Pat Howard identified work on Leicester Tigers' defence as a priority when assessing his side's preparation needs ahead of today's Guinness Premiership match against Saracens at Welford Road.

After gaining two bonus points in the defeat away to London Irish on Boxing Day, head coach Howard said defence would be an area on which to concentrate some of the work in training.

"The main positive out of the defeat at London Irish was the two points," Howard said. "We had a mountain of possession and a mountain of opportunities but we lost the game. We did not play well but, having said that, we lost 26-25 away and scored four tries.

"A lot of our focus this week will be on our defensive work. When you score four tries you usually expect to win a game. We scored six tries against Bristol last Friday and another four at Irish so we are finishing our chances reasonably well, but we have conceded five tries in the last two games and we have to look at that."