London Welsh’s pummelling by Saracens earlier this season will have no bearing when the two sides meet tomorrow, according to Justin Burnell, writes SIMON WILLIAMS.

Although Welsh lost 78-7 at Allianz Park in the Aviva Premiership only a month ago, the head coach says that result will be out of his players’ minds when they meet again in the LV= Cup at Oxford’s Kassam Stadium (2.30pm).

“A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. If it affects you, you never move forward,” he said. “It’s like falling off a horse.

“You can’t keep dwelling on the past.

“We are just going to continue searching for that win,” said Burnell, who believes – after failing to win in any of their 21 games this season – that improving Welsh are getting closer to that elusive first victory.

He acknowledged that Saracens would be weakened slightly by the loss of a number of key players ahead of the RBS 6 Nations, which starts next weekend, but insisted tomorrow’s opponents would still be able to put out a very strong side.

“Any teams losing five or six star players will lose an advantage,” he said.

“But Saracens don’t just have five or six world-class players, they still have 13 to 14 world-class players.

“Saracens are strong across the board. They have good set-pieces and play out wide.”

The LV= Cup game follows two consecutive games in the European Challenge Cup, when Burnell used the same starting XV – largely fringe players – for both games.

However, the head coach has freshened up the squad and will do so again for the following game against Newport Gwent Dragons, also in the LV= Cup.

Burnell said: “Players who haven’t played for a fortnight need to be rotated back into the squad. They need game-time.

“The LV= Cup gives you the opportunity to play players within the squad.”