Billy Vunipola went over for Wasps early on but it proved to be in vain © Getty Images

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Matches: Wasps 17 - 22 Saracens

Tournaments/Tours: Aviva Premiership

Teams: England | Saracens | Wasps

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall hailed his side's work ethic after prevailing at Adams Park 22-17 against Wasps despite having five players on England duty.

With midfield pairing Charlie Hodgson and Owen Farrell among those celebrating victory over Italy in the Six Nations on Saturday, Sarries still managed a win thanks to 17 points from Alex Goode's boot and an interception try from James Short.

McCall said: "In the last two-and-a-half years we've tried to rotate the squad as much as possible and we regard all of the people who played today as starters and first XV players."

Wasps scored tries through number eight Billy Vunipola and hooker Tom Lindsay in the first 22 minutes but Short's score in the 18th helped to thwart the home side's momentum. "We had to deal with a couple of tries which were scored out of nothing. We showed character, discipline, patience and resolve to get the job done," McCall added. "In the first half, aside from those two tries, we felt we were dominant. We had a lot of possession in their half.

"In the second half they had much more of the possession but we defended magnificently, were very disciplined and I thought our set-piece was very good. When you come away from home to a club that are fighting for survival, who have got most of their experienced players back, to come and get the job done is a big achievement."

Wasps boss Dai Young refused to be downhearted at his side's seventh successive Aviva Premiership defeat, which leaves them nine points ahead of bottom club Newcastle. "It's not a healthy position to be in and it's not something we're proud of but that was a game we could easily have won," he said. "Of the games we have lost, in two or three we've been well beaten but in the others we could have won.

"Playing at home against a Saracens team missing a few players, these are ones you've got to nail. We created opportunities but we didn't have that clinical edge to turn pressure into points."

A run of tough matches loom against Exeter, Sale and London Irish and Young added: "I think we can beat any of those teams comfortably but they will be confident they can beat us as well.

"I'm confident that Newcastle will win some games in the run-in so we've got to make sure that we pick up some wins. They're three wins behind us but they could win three or four games. We can't hope that Newcastle lose, Worcester lose and Bath lose. We've got to worry about ourselves.

"It's important that we get wins on the board and hopefully sooner rather than later to take a bit of pressure off."