Falcons confident ahead of the festive season

Falcons sit seventh in the table having won five of their 10 matches so far, including their last two against Northampton Saints and Harlequins.

The European break brought mixed results for the North East side, with a heavy 12-42 defeat to Lyon rectified with a 48-29 revenge-win against the French side a week later.

Hogg wants his men to carry that confidence down to Allianz Park, before home matches against top-four sides Wasps and Bath in a testing period of the season.

"We now have confidence ahead of every match we play and that means we have no fear of Saracens. They are a great team and know exactly how to play," the loose forward said.

"It will be a tough challenge but we have always done well down there – our problem has often been maintaining that throughout a full 80 minutes but we feel we can do it this time.

"We have the top three in the next three games – it is tough at this a crunch time of the season but it is very good to see where we are.

"We ultimately want to be playing these top teams for the big prizes week in week out – so it will be a mark of where we are as a club and as a team.

"We were all very disappointed with the way things played out in France and the coaches had a lot of things to say about it and they had us really fired up – I think that made a big difference to the match last week.

"It was a blip against Lyon because we are playing a lot better this season – in the past we have often played well but not got the results but things have changed this year."

One reason Hogg feels Newcastle have become more competitive is their strength in depth – which was enhanced by the signing of London Welsh centre Nick Reynolds.

And the 33-year-old believes Dean Richards' side can top an impressive 2016 next year, and push for a top-half finish in the Premiership table.

"Now it is all about pushing on and getting better, winning more matches and making sure we go to the next level," he added.

"We just need to keep doing what we are doing and not take our foot off the pedal – we did that against Bath and got punished.

"Everyone is contributing – I feel my first half of the season has gone okay but we have a lot of competition for places and are getting better all the time."