Northampton centre Allan Bateman has a double incentive for securing victory over midlands rivals Leicester in the Zurich Championship semi-final at Welford Road.

Bateman is praying for a final chance to represent his club in a Twickenham final following their disappointing cup campaigns this term. But equally he has a burning desire to defeat the Tigers in their own back yard - something he has never achieved, and something the Saints have not managed to do since 1992.

The Wales international, who will move to Neath at the end of the season, admitted: "It is not just my last chance to play for Northampton at Twickenham but I've never beaten Leicester at Leicester either so it's a double incentive
to win. "It's almost a decade since the team won there so everyone will be going full-on to get a win on Saturday."

The 36-year-old also believes that since the turn of the year Saints' form has continued to improve and that having run Leicester close only a few weeks ago Saints are in the best possible position to book a place in the final on May 13. "They beat us convincingly early on in the year up there but it was a lot closer down in Northampton a couple of weeks ago," he said. "So I think we are moving in right direction, but whether or not we'll take them we'll find out on Saturday. They've had a really tough year, with all the tournaments they've been playing, so if we can catch them a bit tired you never know."

Northampton had a convincing win 45-17 win over Saracens at the quarter-final stage and Bateman believes the key to victory over the European Cup finalists will be the forward battle. "What we did well at Saracens was that our forwards were very dominant," he said. "But it is going to be much more difficult against Leicester as their forward pack is very, very strong. It's going to be a tough task for our forwards. But if they manage to get on top then that is the way we need to play."

And Saints have been boosted with the news that talisman Pat Lam will be making a return to the bench - although he has not managed to oust young gun Mark Soden from the number eight spot.

Leicester, meanwhile, will be looking to continue their tilt at a unique treble. With the league title already under their belts and a trip to Paris a fortnight from now, anyone could be forgiven for thinking the Tigers might have something else on their mind. But director of rugby Dean Richards insists the desire to win is still very strong within the squad and another scalp at Welford Road would make a record 19 out of 19 wins in all competitions.

"We would be a little disappointed if we didn't come away with something else this year. We feel we have a very strong side and we feel we have the strength of character and strength in depth and we have the desire to go out and achieve something else."

Richards could rest his Lions trio of Austin Healey, Martin Johnson and Neil Back to give them the opportunity to recharge their batteries after an arduous domestic campaign.