Leicester Tigers fly-half Noel Reid says he is licking his lips at the prospect of a match-up with some familiar faces in Round 4 of the Gallagher Premiership.

The Dublin-born stand-off made more than a century of appearances for Leinster before a switch to Welford Road this summer.

And as Tigers travel to the Madejski Stadium to take on London Irish this Sunday (November 10, 2.30pm), Reid knows the threats posed by their squad better than most.

“They’ve recruited quite well,” the 29-year-old said. “Paddy Jackson’s obviously there at the moment, and I’ve played against him a lot from his time at Ulster.

“He was at 15 last week, so it’ll be interesting to see where he plays this time around. He’ll be a threat.

“Stephen Myler is a very experienced player, and I’ve gone up against him in the Cup when he was at Northampton.

“And I know a few of the Irish guys. I played a lot with Brendan Macken when he was at Leinster, Conor Gilsenan, so I know a few of them. It’ll be good to catch up with a few of them after the game, and I hope it’ll be after a win.”

Reid asserted that the side must be on their mettle against a side that downed Wasps on the opening weekend.

“I think the way in which they’ve started in the league, they’ve been very physical,” he continued.

“They’ve got a big pack, and in most Premiership games if you dominate up front and your set-piece is on top, you’ll go a long way.

“If we can nullify them there, that’ll give us a good platform to play. We’ve played some quite nice stuff so far, so if we can beat them up in the pack that’ll really help us backs out.

“We’ve had a good training week, and hopefully we can put it on the pitch on Sunday.”