Boyd believes he can find the right recipe for Saints against Saracens

Northampton have lost each of their past five home games against the Barnet-based outfit and were beaten on four occasions by them last season.

Saracens racked up a whopping 237 points in those meetings, two of which came in the Premiership and two of which were in the Champions Cup.

But there has been plenty of change at Saints during the summer, with new boss Boyd drafting in fresh coaches and players.

And he is now looking forward to his first game against Saracens with a feeling of optimism.

"Apparently last year's team played Saracens four times and conceded more than 200 points, but I've made the point that this is not last year's team," Boyd said.

"If we play poorly, we will get dusted as well, so we just need to work out what is the right recipe for the Saints and, more importantly, what is the right recipe for Saints against Saracens.

"I'm sure we'll play the game slightly differently, maybe even significantly differently, against Saracens.

"We savoured the four points against Harlequins last Friday and we're now plotting for Saracens."

Boyd went to Saracens' game against Bristol Bears at Allianz Park last Saturday.

Bristol were leading at the break but were eventually overwhelmed, losing 44-23 after having flanker George Smith sent off.

Boyd said: "You always get more intel when you watch a team live so Ferg (assistant coach Matt Ferguson) and I jumped in the car and headed down to watch Saracens.

"On Sunday, we reviewed that game and came up with a plan.

"The busiest days for a coach are the days after you play. When the boys come in on a Monday, you can't be underprepared - you've got to have all the answers about what happened on Saturday.

"You've got to have all the knowledge about what's coming on Saturday otherwise you just don't get it right."