The Scottish region have enjoyed a positive start to their United Rugby Championship campaign, winning five out of their seven games to sit one point off leaders Leinster Rugby.

However, the former Scotland scrum-half reckons the trip to the three-time European champions will be the perfect test for his squad.

“This is a real challenge for the club,” he told Edinburgh’s website. “I’d say Saracens are one of the best teams in Europe [and we’re] playing away from home, [so] it will be a really good measure of where we are at.

“[There’s] lots of stuff we’re pleased with in the URC, but this is a different competition; it allows you to focus your mind against players we don’t come up against as much. [It’s] a really good opportunity to play against some world-class individuals and an excellent team.

“It’s not just the message for the week; it’s the message for the season – we are constantly trying to improve on what we’re doing. If you’re sitting still, you’re falling behind.

“We’re constantly looking at ways we can improve our game in and around our decision-making, our execution and our physicality.”

Blair is eager for his squad to have a successful EPCR Challenge Cup campaign, as they harbour ambitions of going one better than in 2015, when they were beaten 19-13 by Gloucester Rugby in the final.

“We’ve talked at the start of the season about the history of the club around the European competitions, around the Challenge Cup – obviously getting to the final,” he said.

“It’s a competition that the guys love and it just brings something different. There’s a different feel to it – using different balls in training and games. Even that gets the guys excited about things. We’re just looking forward to challenging ourselves.”

Edinburgh Rugby head coach Mike Blair believes his side’s EPCR Challenge Cup Round 1 encounter at Saracens on Saturday will be a good barometer of their standard.