By Oscar Maung-Haley, Sportsbeat

Saracens flanker Jackson Wray reckons their clash against Leicester this weekend will provide the perfect platform to build upon following their promising return to the Gallagher Premiership.

Mark McCall’s side got their campaign off to a flying start on the opening day of the season with an impressive 26-9 away win over Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate.

Standing in their way this weekend is a rejuvenated Leicester Tigers side, who sit top of the table following bonus point wins over Exeter and Gloucester in the first two rounds of action.

And following a week off due to the Premiership’s uneven team numbers this season, Wray believes the clash against Leicester will pose Sarries a real challenge.

“Looking back at the Bristol game, there was a lot on that for us and it was a great opportunity to show how far we have come,” said Wray.

“It was a really satisfying evening and it has given us a good platform to move on from, which starts this weekend against Leicester. 

“We worked hard last week with no game so we had a chance to properly review everything and we can’t wait to get back out there this weekend with another tough challenge.”

A busy summer of rugby saw a host of Saracens stars feature for Warren Gatland’s British & Irish Lions on their tour of South Africa, which ended in a 2-1 series defeat.

Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, Maro Itoje, Jamie George and Mako Vunipola all featured for the Lions and were scheduled to be unavailable for Premiership action until the middle of October to give them an extended rest period.

However, the rest period is not mandatory, meaning that Sarries' Lions contingent could return to action ahead of schedule, should they feel suitably rested.

And Saracens director of rugby McCall believes it makes sense to bring his Lions players back into the fold when they’re ready to return.

"We want to bring them back at the right time for each one of them and in a sensible fashion,” said McCall.

“They've all had a good rest but it's just when they are ready to go and ready to play rugby.

"Over the next couple of weeks, you can expect to see a few of them come back in and then Maro probably a little bit later than that."