Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall was not happy with the performance of his side despite winning 27-23 against Bristol Bears on Saturday at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Victory kept Saracens in a strong position in the Gallagher Premiership table , sitting five points ahead of Harlequins in second place, as they push for a home semi-final at the first time of asking after being promoted from the Championship last season.

The Bears led 20-13 just before half-time, when Elliot Daly scored in the 39th minute, and Owen Farrell converted it to level the scores.

Swiftly after the break however, Max Malins scored his second of the afternoon against the side where he enjoyed a successful loan spell last year, to put Saracens back into control and into the lead, although it was only a late forward pass that denied Bristol victory.

McCall was relieved to get the win and was happy with the way his side rallied, but overall was disappointed with his side’s performance.

He said: "We're obviously really thrilled to get four points and a win, but we're not thrilled with the performance.

"It was an exciting game, but not the kind of exciting game we want it to be or be part of, to be honest.

“We did show a lot of resilience to keep coming back and score two important tries either side of half-time.”

McCall went further in the criticism of his team, citing poor defence as a problem, while giving credit to Bristol for their performance in what was a thrilling match.

He said: "We were poor defensively and a lot of credit must be given to Bristol for the problems they caused us.

"With the ball, we were pretty good but without the ball, we weren't so good."

Saracens face Wasps in the Premiership Rugby Cup on Tuesday evening and have an outside chance of qualifying for the semi-finals, before a trip to Manchester on Friday night in the Gallagher Premiership to face a resurgent Sale Sharks, who have climbed into fifth place and sit just outside the semi-finals.