Saracens 'optimistic' Farrell will face Ospreys

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said on Wednesday they are increasingly confident flyhalf Owen Farrell will be fit for this weekend's Champions Cup last 16 tie with the Ospreys.

England captain Farrell limped off 10 minutes from time with an ankle issue in last weekend's Premiership win over London rivals Harlequins.

"Owen took part in some of the training today (Wednesday), so we're relatively optimistic that he'll be available for this weekend," McCall said.

There were fears the 31-year-old flyhalf had done damage to the same ankle he injured while on England duty in the Six Nations.

"Owen didn't need a scan. He was much better on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday after the pain," McCall said.

"He's our captain and he played brilliantly on the weekend, led the team very well. So fingers crossed," he added.

Saracens are back in the knockout phase of Europe's premier club rugby union competition, which they last won in 2019, after a two-year absence due to their relegation from the Premiership for breaking the English top-flight's financial rules.

In addition to Farrell, Saracens' Maro Itoje, Jamie George, Mako Vunipola and Max Malins were also involved with England during the Six Nations.

"They have been away for eight weeks, but they've always been superb at coming back to the club and chucking themselves into it," he said.

"We saw that against Harlequins last weekend when they all played well. They're all looking forward to playing in a quarterfinal in Europe, which we haven't done for a while."

Organisers have indicated the Champions Cup could revert to its previous format of groups of four teams instead of the existing two pools of 12 teams.

"It was magnificent to be honest," said McCall of the old set-up.

"You had to work incredibly hard to get out of your group and it was a real achievement to get out of your group.

"It's probably not the same achievement to get into the last 16 now as it was to get into the quarterfinals all those years ago. I personally would prefer the old format."