Sarries will 'look after' internationals - McCall

Jamie George [left] earned his 100th England cap against Italy in the Six Nations

Saracens will "look after" their returning international players over the next few weeks, says director of rugby Mark McCall.

The north London club resume their Premiership campaign against city rivals Harlequins this weekend with eight players returning from Six Nations duty.

McCall's side are fifth in the league, one point off a play-off spot with seven games remaining.

The Men in Black host Quins at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, then travel to Leicester Tigers, before visiting Toulon in the European Champions Cup in a crucial fortnight.

McCall said he and his staff have been evaluating the returning players' fitness ahead of the game against Quins.

"I think you need to do what's best for the player," he told BBC Radio London.

"We've got a three-game window coming up so all of our international players will get a good period of rest during the three weeks.

"While the clubs haven't been busy in the last few weeks, the international players have been.

"So you've got to recognise the fact some of them have had a lot of games and have played a lot of minutes and for sure we'll be looking after them the next few weeks."

Which Saracens players featured in Six Nations?

Nick Tompkins played three times for Wales in the Six Nations

England

• Elliot Daly [4 matches]

• Theo Dan [1]

• Ben Earl [5]

• Jamie George [4]

• Maro Itoje [5]

• Tom Willis [5]

Wales

• Nick Tompkins [3]

• Liam Williams [1]

Italy

• Marco Riccioni [3]

'Our performances have fluctuated'

Mark McCall has been director of rugby at Saracens since 2011

After a summer in which long-time captain Owen Farrell and the Vunipolas - brothers Mako and Billy and cousin Manu - all left the club, Saracens have had an inconsistent season with six wins from 11 Premiership games.

Among their five losses was a reverse to Harlequins, who ended a run of eight straight defeats against their rivals with a 17-10 victory at The Stoop in October.

"What we've seen from us, especially in those middle months in December and January, was a real fluctuation in performance," McCall said.

"Performances which we wouldn't be happy with. But, at the other end of the scale, we had three or four performances in that period which were really high level.

"So we know what we're capable of, we know the potential we have within the group and I think we know what it looks like when we're at our best - we've talked a little bit about that over the last day-and-a-half and the closer we can get to that then the harder we can be to beat."