George Kruis has backed his Saracens teammates to bring their A-game to Sunday’s London derby against Harlequins.

Sarries are looking to avoid a fifth defeat on the spin in all competitions, but still sit a healthy second in the Premiership.

Quins, meanwhile, are also seeking a much-needed victory after losing back-to-back Premiership games against Bath and Exeter.

John Kingston’s side dramatically came back to beat Sarries in the Anglo-Welsh Cup on November 5 and Kruis admitted there will be fierce competition when the sides line up at Twickenham Stoop on Sunday.

READ MORE: Exeter extend lead over Saracens with impressive away win

“It’s a tasty rivalry with Quins, there’s never been too much love lost I’d say,” said the England second row.

“But it’s about not getting that mixed up with emotions, it’s about bringing that intensity but doing it with the right control.

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“We’ve always had some big fights in games, to be fair they’ve turned us over a couple of times down at their place when we’ve gone there a little too confident and got that emotion a little bit wrong.

“We lost two games [recently] by not a lot, doing well in the first half before dropping off a little in the second.

“It’s a great challenge for us as a club to be in those situations, it’s not like we haven’t been there before when internationals leave and you get a few injuries in that period.

READ MORE: Harlequins coach aware of Saracens threat in Anglo-Welsh clash

“We’ve been in those situations before and it’s all about taking what you can from them and trying to present yourself as best as possible.”