Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall defended Owen Farrell and backed his fly-half to bounce back after a disappointing display in the 9-9 draw against Leicester Tigers on Saturday.

Farrell endured a miserable afternoon with the boot, missing four out of five penalties in the first half, two of which could be described as straight-forward.

The 20-year-old was substituted early in the second half and his replacement Charlie Hodgson rubbed salt into the wounds by scoring two penalties in quick succession to get the Men in Black back in the game.

McCall said: "It was just one of those things, he’s had a small groin problem since the end of August so he hasn’t had the same practice as he normally does.

"But that sort of performance is very rare, Owen’s a magnificent player for us, everyone has the odd bad day at the office and Owen has the strength of character to come back."

In a match that was blighted by ill-discipline up front and handling errors in the backs, the game was destined to be decided by the teams' kickers.

England international Toby Flood gave Leicester a 9-3 lead at half time as he kicked three out of three penalties in the first half before Hodgson came on after the break to rescue two points for Saracens.