Saints hoping it's third time lucky against Clermont

Chris Boyd saw Saints suffer a home defeat to Clermont in October but they produced a much better showing in France in January

That is because Chris Boyd's men have already squared up to Top 14 giants Clermont Auvergne twice in the Challenge Cup this season.

Now the two teams meet again in the quarter-final at Stade Marcel Michelin this evening (6pm UK time).

And Saints will hope it is third time lucky, having lost to Clermont 41-20 at Franklin's Gardens back in October before pushing them all the way in a thrilling 48-40 defeat in France in January.

"We're a little bit fortunate to go from a five-day turnaround to a nine-day turnaround," said Saints boss Chris Boyd, who steered his side to a sensational 29-15 Gallagher Premiership win at Leicester Tigers last weekend.

"The boys had three days off after the game at Leicester - we came back in on Tuesday to prepare for this weekend against a Clermont side who are one of the best teams in France.

"They haven't lost to an English side at home since 2006 so it's a massive hurdle.

"We've been looking at their games and they're packed full of internationals, they've got a great set piece, they're really physical and they really dusted us up at the Gardens early doors.

"We had a better performance against them last time and I'm sure they won't take us lightly.

"We're going to go into the game with the view of doing the best we can and see what happens."