Glen Jackson is happy for Saracens to be written off as Heineken Cup no-hopers when they tackle tournament heavyweights Munster on Sunday.

While the Irish province are one win away from reaching their fourth major European final in nine seasons, Saracens have entered uncharted territory.

But the semi-final debutants do not intend just making up the numbers in front of a probable 32,000 capacity crowd at Coventry's Ricoh Arena.

Saracens fly-half Jackson said: "We definitely have the belief we can get to the final, but no-one outside of this club shares that belief.

"We believed we were good enough to get out of the pool stage, and we were in a tough group that included Biarritz - one of the competition's favourites - but we still qualified.

"No-one gave us a hope against the Ospreys in the quarter-finals, but we proved ourselves again.

"So if no-one believes we can beat Munster, then fine.

"We have been given this inconsistent tag, and that is fair enough this season.

"We beat the Ospreys, but then lost to Gloucester and Wasps in the Guinness Premiership.

"It hasn't been a great year for us in the Premiership - who knows, maybe we don't have a big enough squad for it - but we seem to have a good team for knockout rugby."

New Zealander Jackson has played a pivotal role in Saracens' unlikely bid for European glory.

He tops the tournament's points chart this season with 112, amassing 48 of those in vital pool stage victories over Biarritz and Glasgow, plus the stirring Ospreys triumph.

Saracens will need a repeat of the heroics they produced three weeks ago that grounded an Ospreys side packed with Wales Grand Slam stars to have any realistic chance against 2006 European champions Munster.

But Saracens can also seek inspiration from Munster's Heineken Cup semi-final failures in 2001 (Stade Francais), 2003 (Toulouse) and 2004 (Wasps).

It is a statistic not lost on Jackson.

He added: "Munster have a lot of internationals, and when big games like this come around they know what they must do to step up.

"But they have been to 10 successive quarter-finals and are going for their fourth final appearance, so they have lost a few in the knockout stages as well.

"If they were playing a Wasps or a Leicester then maybe their experience of this stage of the competition would be in their favour.

"They wouldn't have expected to play us, and that should work in our favour. It would be nice to upset them."

Jackson's opposite number Ronan O'Gara is unquestionably the Munster player, more than any other, Saracens must stop.

The Ireland Test fly-half produced a masterclass to send defending champions Wasps spinning out of Europe earlier this season, and Jackson acknowledges the threat O'Gara poses.

He said: "Ronan is a very talented footballer and probably the best field-kicker in the game at the moment.

"He is someone that Munster rely on heavily, and if we can close him down then things will happen for us.

"Like any fly-half, if you can stop him getting front-foot ball that will help nullify him.

"When a team is on the front foot, their front-five is doing the job and that makes the fly-half's life much easier. It is not about stopping Ronan, it's about stopping the nine guys in front of him.

"Ronan had a disappointing World Cup, as did Ireland, but he has stepped up since and put all that behind him.

"In the Six Nations, I thought he was brilliant. He is obviously on a high at the moment, and Munster are benefiting."

Saracens, coached by former Munster boss Alan Gaffney, field the same pack that accounted for the Ospreys, including England World Cup winner Richard Hill in what could be his final game before retirement.

Gaffney said: "We've got a tough task in facing Munster, who have qualified for the knockout stages in this competition for the last 10 years.

"For Saracens, this is a first, but one message we've tried to get across to the players is the opportunity they have, not just in terms of proving they can both perform and belong at the highest level, but also to make the final of the competition."

Munster rugby director Declan Kidney, meanwhile, has chosen the side originally selected for the quarter-final success against Gloucester.

On that occasion, prop Marcus Horan was forced out after suffering a back spasm just before kick-off at Kingsholm, with Tony Buckley answering an SOS to replace him.

But Horan now starts in a team that sees Tomas O'Leary continuing as scrum-half, preferred to the vastly-experienced Ireland international Peter Stringer.

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