Dafydd Jenkins has highlighted the enormity of victory at Twickenham if Wales can end their long wait for a Six Nations away win against England.

It has only happened twice since the tournament began 24 years ago, with Exeter lock Jenkins bidding to emulate previous Wales captains Ryan Jones (2008) and Sam Warburton (2012) in toppling England on home soil.

Jenkins, the youngest Wales skipper since Sir Gareth Edwards in 1968, was a junior school pupil when Scott Williams’ late try secured a Triple Crown triumph at Twickenham during the 2012 campaign.

And he is geared up for a huge effort on Saturday after Wales showed glimpses of their potential via a spectacular second-half fightback against Scotland last weekend, even if they ultimately lost by a point from 27-0 behind.

“I wouldn’t say it is like any other game, because England and Wales is special,” Jenkins, 21, said.

“There’s massive history behind the game. It’s a must-win game for us because of the place we are in the tournament.

“It’ll be the best place to win. For a Welshman, there is no better place. If you win over there, you gain a lot of respect from them. It’s huge for us.

“There were a lot of emotions at half-time last week. We felt like we were letting a lot of people down.

“We did well to nearly get ourselves out of the hole but we didn’t. Hopefully, we won’t put ourselves in that position again.

“We definitely felt like we grew in terms of the performance – a lot of people stepped up in the second-half.”

While Wales victories are rare in the professional era at Twickenham, head coach Warren Gatland bucks the trend.

He was Wales boss in 2008 and 2012 and masterminded a 2015 World Cup win, while he also won a hat-trick of Premiership titles with Wasps, in addition to the club’s 2004 European Cup final success.

Gatland said: “We need to start a lot better than last week. We need to reduce the amount of turnovers.

“The second-half was reflective of how we played against Australia in the World Cup (Wales won 40-6), with a 10 or 11 per cent turnover rate. That makes a huge difference.

“A number of those things were in our own control, with penalties or lineouts that we weren’t accurate enough. We have worked hard this week in trying to rectify these things.”

Central to Wales’ victory bid will be fly-half Ioan Lloyd, who makes his first Wales start after three appearances off the bench in three years.

With Sam Costelow injured and Dan Biggar having retired from Test rugby, 22-year-old Lloyd now steps up for the biggest game of his life.

“We can see what a quality footballer and running threat he is,” Gatland added.

“He probably realises there is less space and not so many opportunities as a running threat at Test level. It maybe only happens once or twice a half.

“His game management is pretty important. Also, his communication with his outside backs and forwards, scanning and seeing what options are on.

“He is an instinctive player, so we need to allow him that opportunity to express himself, but it is also him being smart and saying that it’s not forcing it and not going after things when there isn’t that chance.”

Connections of Fact To File are attempting to temper their enthusiasm slightly following his impressive display at the Dublin Racing Festival.

With his sole rival and Willie Mullins-trained stablemate Gaelic Warrior failing to run up to the level of form he showed when winning at Limerick, it is hard to know quite what he achieved.

But as the times suggested Fact To File reached the last fence much faster than Heart Wood – who won a handicap chase over the same distance later on the card – before being allowed to coast home, plenty are getting excited over what the future may hold.

He is entered in the Turners Novices’ Chase over two and a half miles and the Brown Advisory over three at Cheltenham next month but his target has yet to be decided.

“I was a little surprised how good he looked. You have to be careful not to get too carried away with it, there was only one to beat and he didn’t perform for whatever reason, so you’ve got to bear that in mind,” said Frank Berry, racing manager to owner JP McManus.

“But we were delighted with everything, the way he jumped especially and he’s come out of it good, so we’re looking forward to the future with him.

“We don’t know at the minute which race it will be, we’ll decide nearer the time.

“There may have only been two but they went a right good gallop, the question you’d have is that at the business end, he had nothing to beat, so we’ll try not to get too carried away with it. You could only be pleased with him, though.”

The green and gold silks were also carried by Mullins’ Majborough, who finished third, beaten less than two lengths, on his Irish debut in the Grade One Spring Juvenile Hurdle.

“Majborough ran a lovely race, he jumped well and you’d be very pleased with him,” said Berry.

“Hopefully he’ll come forward from that a bit, as it was his first for Willie.

“It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get him started earlier but that’s the way it turned out.

“He’s come out of the race good and we’ll see where he goes next. He’s a nice, big horse and hopefully he’ll have a good future.”

One big disappointment for McManus was A Dream To Share, who lost his unbeaten record when only sixth in the Grade Two bumper he won last year.

His hurdling career had been put on hold due to a setback but he will head over obstacles when the new season begins in May.

“A Dream To Share was a little disappointing. The ground by the end of the day was quite tacky and it might have just found him out,” said Berry.

“He’s come out of the race good and we’ll look forward to getting him started over hurdles in the new season.

“We’ll see down the road if he’s one for the Flat but we’re keen to get him started over hurdles when we can.”

Willie Mullins goes in search of further riches at Newbury on Saturday as he unleashes fascinating French recruit Ocastle Des Mottes in the Betfair Hurdle.

Ireland’s perennial champion trainer obliterated the opposition at last weekend’s Dublin Racing Festival, enjoying a clean sweep in the eight Grade Ones and nine winners from 15 races overall.

A week on, he goes in search of a first victory in Britain’s most valuable handicap hurdle with a horse who has yet to run this side of the Channel, but has won twice over obstacles in his homeland.

Carrying the colours of prominent owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede for the first time, it is no surprise bookmakers are taking no chances and have priced Ocastle Des Mottes as clear favourite, but connections are not getting carried away.

“Basically, he’s a horse that’s been bought for steeplechasing next year, so if we were going to run him this spring, we were going to run him in a valuable handicap hurdle,” said the owners’ racing manager Anthony Bromley.

“He’s lower rated in England than in Ireland, so that’s why he’s coming to England and it will give him some experience of big fields and the tempo of British racing.

“Two miles might be a bit short for him, he does want soft ground. I wouldn’t know if he should be favourite, but I find that the French horses that have their first run in an English, big-field handicap, they can get a shock from the tempo of the race.

“The race will tell us a lot more about the horse. We like the horse, but he’s next year’s project and we want to learn a little bit more about what trip he needs moving forwards.

“As he’s lower rated here, we thought we’d start him off in an English race and it’s obviously the richest handicap hurdle in the UK, so why not have a dart at it – and a good one.”

Mullins will also be represented by outsider Alvaniy, ridden by Bryony Frost, and the enigmatic Onlyamatteroftime, who was called up as first reserve following the withdrawal of Ben Pauling’s Tellherthename.

Harry Cobden had been set to partner Tellherthename but now switches to Ito Ditto, twice a winner at Chepstow this term.

Nicky Henderson has won the Betfair Hurdle on five occasions, with dual winner Geos (2000 and 2004) joined on the roll of honour by Sharpical (1998), Landing Light (2001) and My Tent Or Yours (2013).

This year, the Seven Barrows handler fires a four-pronged assault, with top-weight Luccia accompanied by Iberico Lord, Under Control and Doddiethegreat.

“The ground is going to be important and I’m never sure about Luccia. She won a bumper at Sandown in desperate ground very impressively and we all got the impression that was how she wanted it, but I’m not so sure she does. I think better ground helps her,” said Henderson.

“I know Nico (de Boinville) feels Iberico Lord will like the soft ground and probably Doddiethegreat – they might be the soft ground boys.

“I cannot explain Iberico Lord’s run last time, his performance was shocking really. Nothing came to light and his work has been very good, so there is nothing you can do but go again.”

Of Under Control, he added: “She only ran a fortnight ago, but that doesn’t worry me, as at the backend of last season, we backed her up from a race at Cheltenham to Sandown in nine days and she was very impressive at Sandown.

“I don’t think she got a desperately hard race to be honest at Doncaster in the mares’ Grade Two. She was well beat by Willie Mullins’ mare, but then anyone can be beat by a Willie Mullins mare! I’m looking forward to her running.”

Neil King has high hopes for Lookaway, who has enjoyed a well-earned break since filling the runner-up spot behind Captain Teague in the Grade One Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury in late December.

King said “There’s no getting away from it, he had a hard race in the Challow; he battled and fought all the way to the line in testing conditions there.

“I thought at the time that he definitely wouldn’t want to go anywhere for a month after that, although in fairness to him, he did actually bounce out of the race quite nicely and was fresh and well the next week. But I’m sure he’ll benefit from waiting just that little bit longer.

“I’m confident the rain will help us as well, I’d have been far more worried if it had been a really drying time and got on the fast side of good, because then two miles might have been a bit sharp for him in that calibre of race.”

Brentford Hope has been one of Harry Derham’s star performers in the early stages of his training career and he now has the chance to provide the handler with his biggest victory to date.

A course-and-distance winner in November, he was third again over track and trip in the Gerry Feilden, with the testing conditions set to be a positive.

“He likes Newbury and it is like a home game to him,” said Derham.

“I absolutely got drowned on my gallop all morning on Thursday and that will help. It’s obviously an exceptionally competitive race, but we’ve kept him back over Christmas with this race in mind.

“I don’t think he’s exceptionally well handicapped, but I think he can run well. We’ve put cheekpieces on him for the first time, just because some horses run above themselves first-time in cheekpieces and if you are going to run above yourself, you might as well do it in a Betfair Hurdle.

“The rain has come at the right time, he’s in good form, and we’re going to have a go.”

Harry Fry feels the rain-softened ground will bring the best out of Altobelli, who has gone close in a couple of similar races at Ascot already this term.

He said: “Conditions will certainly play to the strengths of Altobelli, who has run well in two competitive handicaps at Ascot, including the last day when the ground had dried up plenty for him.

“If you watch the replay back and see his action, it is really clear that he wants a good cut in the ground, so he’ll relish conditions on Saturday and we’re hoping he can transfer that good form at Ascot across to Newbury and be very competitive. We’re looking forward to it.”

Caelan Doris will captain Ireland for the first time in Sunday’s Guinness Six Nations clash with Italy in Dublin.

The 25-year-old, who switches from number eight to openside flanker, has been selected to lead a starting XV showing six personnel changes from last Friday’s 38-17 round-one demolition of France.

Munster scrum-half Craig Casey will make only his fourth Test start, while centre Stuart McCloskey, prop Finlay Bealham, lock James Ryan and back-rowers Ryan Baird and Jack Conan also come in.

Regular skipper Peter O’Mahony, who missed training earlier in the week, is one of four established stars given the weekend off, in addition to Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne and Bundee Aki.

Jamison Gibson-Park and 2022 world player of the year Josh van der Flier drop to a much-changed bench, which also includes fly-half Harry Byrne and versatile back Jordan Larmour.

Skipper Doris last wore the number seven jersey for his country in last summer’s 33-17 World Cup warm-up win over Italy in which he scored two tries.

His positional move allows number eight Conan to make his first international start since suffering a foot injury in that match, with Baird lining up at blindside.

Tighthead Bealham, who this week became a father, joins loosehead prop Andrew Porter and hooker Dan Sheehan in the front row, while Joe McCarthy will partner recalled Leinster team-mate Ryan in the second row following his man-of-the-match display in Marseille.

Jack Crowley continues at fly-half, forming a partnership with his provincial team-mate Casey, whose last two starts also came against Italy.

Ulster’s McCloskey links up with Robbie Henshaw in midfield, with wings James Lowe and Calvin Nash and full-back Hugo Keenan retained in an unchanged back three.

Hooker Ronan Kelleher, lock Iain Henderson and props Jeremy Loughman and Tom O’Toole complete the bench.

Cian Healy, Conor Murray and Ciaran Frawley drop out of the matchday 23.

Rory Darge feels “refreshed” and ready to lead Scotland into Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations showdown with France after dismissing any concerns about being exposed to such a big match following a six-week injury lay-off.

The 23-year-old flanker has been sidelined since sustaining knee ligament damage while playing for Glasgow against Edinburgh on December 30 but – after being named national team co-captain by Gregor Townsend last month – he has been deemed fit enough to start against Les Bleus at Murrayfield.

Darge played down any notion that his lack of recent game time might be an issue.

“Really good,” he said, when asked at the pre-match captain’s run press conference on Friday how he was feeling.

“I’ve played a lot of rugby the last year and a half so a five-week break is not the end of the world.

“It’s not a complete break because I’ve been working hard in the gym and rehabbing but compared to the physical and mental toll of playing rugby every week, I just feel fresh and I’m really looking forward to playing.

“I’ve just been trying my best to get back as quickly as I can and in as good a condition as I can.

“With the physios, it’s sometimes quite dynamic in terms of the date you will be back. It’s dependent on ligament tests and things like that.

“Getting too caught up in it initially would have been the wrong thing to do, but now I’m back I’m obviously delighted. There are not many better games – it’s one of the ones you really want to play in.

“I’ve had issues with this ligament before, it is what it is, but I don’t have any concern about it. I’m used to coming back from injury.”

Darge has skippered Scotland once previously after leading the team in a World Cup warm-up match at home to Italy last July, but this weekend’s match is his first since he and Finn Russell were named as co-captains.

“I’m excited,” he said. “Gregor obviously gave me the opportunity last year and that was a special week.

“I remember the whole week really well.

“This time it’s obviously a Six Nations game at home against one of the best teams in the world, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Saturday’s match represents Darge’s fourth Six Nations start after he missed last year’s championship through injury. His first start for the national team came at home to the French two years ago, when he scored in a 36-17 defeat.

“I remember the anthems, that was a goosebump moment being my first Scotland start and first game at Murrayfield,” the back-rower recalled. “Then the try, in terms of moments that is probably right up there in my career.

“I don’t score many tries, it’s not a massive part of my game, but to score in front of a home crowd and my family was really special.

“Maybe two years ago, my first time involved in the Six Nations, there were more nerves involved whereas this one I’m just really looking forward to it.

“I’ve had the experience of it before, I love playing at Murrayfield in Six Nations, the anthems and everything are unbelievable. The build-up to the game really gets me up for it.”

Darge watched from the stand last weekend as Scotland kicked off their campaign with a hard-fought 27-26 win away to Wales and he is hoping to make it back-to-back victories – a scenario that would leave them sitting nicely ahead of their next two matches at home to England and away to Italy.

“That’s what we’re going out to try and do,” he said. “It’s going to take a lot physically.

“We can’t really look further than Saturday. I know that’s the easy answer, but it’s true.

“After that, it would be massively exciting (the possibility of competing for the title), but we really have to concentrate on Saturday.”

Paris St Germain boss Luis Enrique has played down any injury concerns for Kylian Mbappe after the France forward did not take part in full training ahead of Saturday’s Ligue 1 match against Lille.

Mbappe, who continues to be linked with a move to Real Madrid in the summer, picked up a minor issue during the Coupe de France win over Brest on Wednesday night.

Despite having not joined in with the rest of the squad for Friday’s final training session and instead worked in the gym, Enrique insists there are no concerns over his availability.

“Kylian will be fit tomorrow and available to play,” Enrique said.

“He didn’t train today because we didn’t want to take any risks, so he trained inside, but he will be available for the game.”

PSG continue their Champions League campaign next week with the first leg of their last 16 tie against Real Sociedad.

Enrique, though, insisted everyone was focused on the job in hand against Lille, who sit fourth in the table.

“We are at a point in the season where we play every three days. We have to plan the options with the staff to always be competitive,” Enrique said.

“We must not underestimate any match – all games are important. As a squad, we try to have two players per position of equivalent level.

“We don’t want to forget certain matches, consider one more important than another even if the one against Real Sociedad is highly anticipated.

“We want to be competitive and be able to win every match.”

Enrique told a press conference: “Lille has a very good team and a coach that I really like.

“It will be difficult when we have the ball because they will come and press us and difficult when we don’t have it because they have good use of it.

“It’s a great test for us, to prove that we want to be competitive in all matches.”

Forward Randal Kolo Muani missed the midweek cup tie because of a viral infection, while left-back Nuno Mendes is stepping up his recovery from surgery on his hamstring.

Lee Kang-in has been given some time on leave following Asia Cup duty with South Korea.

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has suggested the club are ready to quit the Parc des Princes and look for a new home ground elsewhere after city officials confirmed the stadium was not for sale.

“I believe the president was very clear in his message,” Enrique said.

“I know for sure that he is working to find the best solution for the club. This is essential for us to be stronger.”

Wales have been warned they do not hold a monopoly on passion as Will Stuart called on England to prove that fighting spirit is also part of their genetic make-up.

The rivals collide at Twickenham on Saturday with Steve Borthwick’s new-look team aiming to build on their winning start to the Guinness Six Nations against Italy in Rome.

While it is assumed England’s opponents will always play with emotional intensity, spurred on by facing the tournament’s most unpopular team, scrum coach Tom Harrison bristles at the idea that the passion flows in one direction only.

“It’s an interesting assumption to presume Wales would have an extra desire than us,” Harrison said.

“There is rivalry both ways. This England is a special group. They’ve trained and gelled really well together.”

England are presenting their first appearance at Twickenham since beginning their post-2023 World Cup rebuild as the start of a new era.

Apart from seeking to build on the greater enterprise shown in attack against Italy and continue to bed in their new defensive system, they want to forge a reputation as a side that will not take a backwards step.

“We beat Wales with 12 men here in August and that’s partly what we want our DNA to be – never stop fighting and whatever the circumstances, to come out on top,” Stuart said.

“Loads is made of the rivalry with Wales but they’re a great side and keep battling. That’s part of the DNA we pride ourselves on as well.

“We’re massively excited to put a positive stamp on Twickenham and cement it as a hard place to come and play.

“When the atmosphere is electric here it’s the best place I’ve ever played in. It’s on us as players to get the crowd going by playing in a dominant way.

“It’s on us to provide performances to push the crowd to spur us on. It’s always a big occasion against Wales, but we have to focus on ourselves.”

Captain Jamie George has urged his players to be unafraid to show their passion as England look to reconnect with supporters after years of underachievement in the Six Nations.

For Stuart, the Bath tighthead prop, facing Wales at Twickenham will be a moment of intense pride, even if that emotion is visible only in smaller moments.

“I don’t know if I am the most outwardly shouty or passionate bloke, but inside there’s a lot there,” he said.

“You might occasionally get a shout after a scrum penalty or something like that. But apart from that it’s catching my breath and going again!

“I like to be as relaxed as possible until we start strapping at the hotel and then it’s headphones on and be with myself a little bit.

“Some people are pretty relaxed until kick-off. It’s different for everyone.”

England boss Gareth Southgate is keeping a close eye on teenage talent Kobbie Mainoo having been impressed by his “fabulous” breakthrough at Manchester United.

The 18-year-old academy graduate joined the Red Devils aged nine and has long been tipped for stardom, going onto make his first-team bow in January 2023.

Mainoo has now made 14 appearances in all competitions for United and would have played more had he not sustained an injury during their US tour in the summer.

The midfielder has represented England up to under-19s level and his burgeoning displays have impressed senior boss Southgate.

“He’s doing brilliantly,” the England manager said after Thursday’s Nations League draw in Paris. “I’m not certain he’s necessarily going to be a defensive midfielder, as such.

“He’s quite a progressive player but he’s had a fabulous start to his career and it will be good to monitor him as we go forward.”

England return to action with Wembley friendlies against Brazil and Belgium as preparations continue for Euro 2024 in Germany.

Whether the tournament is too soon for Mainoo remains to be seen but Southgate’s side are short of in-form midfield options, plus he took Jude Bellingham to Euro 2020 aged 17.

Stockport-born Mainoo is also eligible for Ghana and their Football Association has expressed interest in calling up the United teenager.

Randy Abbey, a member of the executive council of the Ghana FA, last week told The Times: “The Ghana Football Association is interested in monitoring, attracting, and persuading all eligible talents for its various national teams.

“Kobbie is definitely one of these incredible talents and the association would love to work with him and many like him at home and abroad.”

Mainoo has started United’s last nine matches in all competitions and followed his first senior goal against Newport in the FA Cup with a stoppage-time winner at Wolves.

Last week’s outstanding solo goal secured a 4-3 victory at Molineux and led to team-mate Rasmus Hojlund to describe him as a “generational talent”.

Testing conditions will be the order of the day at Newbury on Saturday but no problems are anticipated if the forecast proves correct.

While more rain has fallen at the Berkshire track than was expected earlier in the week, no inspection is currently planned.

“We’ve had 45 millimetres this week, which is more than we were anticipating on Monday ahead of entries,” clerk of the course George Hill told Sky Sports Racing.

“We were expecting 25-35mm in total after entries but we’ve had more and we’ve seen a few tracks caught out already, but luckily we’re OK as we stand at the moment.

“The going is heavy, soft in places at the moment. We’re expecting 2-7mm, the forecasters are saying, but the heaviest of that will be this afternoon, so we’ll monitor that. It is due to finish by 5pm, so fingers crossed we only get what is forecast and we don’t end up with more, as we’re looking forward to tomorrow.

“I don’t think it will have a chance to get holding or tacky, I think it will ride as described or a little better, given we could have a dry 18 hours.

“The track is in very good condition, we’ve got fresh ground on both tracks and we vertidrained the track last week, which helped us out massively ahead of this heavy rain.

“Obviously, the Betfair Hurdle has filled for the first time in four years, which is fantastic, it’s great to have the Willie Mullins horses, they arrived in the early hours of the morning safe and sound.”

Unfortunately, Saturday’s meeting at Warwick has been called off due to a waterlogged track.

The fixture was due to feature both the Grade Two Kingmaker Novices’ Chase and the Listed Warwick Mares’ Hurdle, in which Cheltenham candidate You Wear It Well was set to run.

However, a total of 36mm of rain fell at the track on Thursday, leaving the course unfit for action.

Clerk of the course Tom Ryall said: “We had 36mm in total yesterday, it started about 4am and carried on through to midnight.

“When we came in this morning, parts of the back straight where it runs parallel with Gog Brook are waterlogged, as that was put on red alert last night, while the owners and trainers car park has flooded and that has spilled onto the track.

“We are basically about 50 per cent under water, so there is really no hope of racing.”

Uttoxeter were also due to race on Saturday, but that fixture has been abandoned.

The course is waterlogged, with further rain forecast.

Friday’s meeting at Kempton got the go-ahead after a morning inspection, while the other scheduled jumps fixture at Bangor was called off on Thursday afternoon.

Erik ten Hag has urged Manchester United’s young stars to keep striving to improve.

There has been a sense of nascent optimism at Old Trafford in recent weeks, with new investment and improved performances and results on the pitch.

In their last four games, United have claimed Premier League wins over Wolves and West Ham, a draw with Tottenham and an FA Cup victory over Newport, scoring 13 goals in the process.

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At the centre of all those matches has been the young trio of Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo, who have contributed eight of those goals, with 21-year-old Danish striker Hojlund scoring in all the games.

A picture of the youngsters sitting on an advertising hoarding together celebrating Garnacho’s first goal in last Sunday’s 3-0 victory over West Ham summed up the shift in mood.

“Players need time, especially young players like Rasmus and Alejandro,” said United boss Ten Hag.

“They need time but also they need a team, so those two facts were not there in the first part of the season. We had to make a lot of adjustments in our way of playing, so by stages it was difficult to serve the offensive part of the team.

“When that happens, it can go really quickly that players are going to develop and to progress, like we have seen. From the start I was confident they have the potential to do what they are now doing, and now it’s about keeping moving, keeping going, be hungry.

“I think they enjoy to play together. There is adventure. They are a danger. They want to do it together and to pass to each other so that everyone can play to their qualities and everyone can score goals.

“It’s great if they want to do it together because that is the key then we can have a lot of pleasure from this.

“They are young players and the future for Manchester United is quite bright with such talent on board, but you have to develop the talent.

“There is a lot of space for improvement and that is necessary if you want to go to the top levels. This club wants to achieve a lot, to win trophies, is very ambitious, so they then have to step up and bring higher levels and consistency.

“Also, against the best opposition they have to express the same threat, and it is about end product.”

Hojlund, 18-year-old Mainoo and 19-year-old Garnacho’s next chance to impress will come on Sunday against Aston Villa.

Unai Emery has earned huge plaudits for the work he has done to elevate Villa into a team challenging for the Champions League and United will almost certainly need to overhaul them if they are to finish in the top four.

Ten Hag is an admirer of Emery, saying: “I think it is very good how he developed this team and it’s very clear how they want to play, in and out of possession.

“I think the players know exactly what they have to do, their jobs and how they have to cooperate with each other. They are really a team, they absolutely have weapons in their team, so we have to play our maximum levels to get the right result.”

Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel is targeting a “statement performance” to end the 30-match unbeaten run of title rivals Bayer Leverkusen.

Leverkusen hold a two-point lead over Saturday’s visitors at the top of the Bundesliga after winning 16 and drawing four of their 20 league games this season.

Xabi Alonso’s side can also boast a 100 per cent record in the group stage of the Europa League and twice came from behind in the German Cup on Tuesday to beat Stuttgart 3-2 and advance to the semi-finals.

However, Bayern can call on their experience of winning 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles and Tuchel believes his side have room for improvement as they approach the business end of the season.

“It’s exciting that two teams are earning points at such a high level,” Tuchel told a pre-match press conference.

“We’ve also had a very good campaign in terms of our history. We’re completely focused on what we can do. We want a statement performance. If we want to win, we need a top performance.

“It’s the week in which we want to prove ourselves. We’re playing for our own objectives, and our objective is to step things up a notch, and then we can be fine in every game. Then we’ve got the individual quality for it. We’re ready to improve.”

Tuchel’s side also have the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Lazio to look forward to and the 50-year-old added: “We have a very attractive week ahead of us.

“A win for Leverkusen opens up a gap, but it won’t be over, although it feels like a special moment to lay your cards on the table. It’s about challenging ourselves and therefore the opponent from the first second to the last.

“We want to take the next step. Leverkusen are having an outstanding season. We’ve still got room for improvement. We feel ready to take the next step and want to push Leverkusen.”

Alphonso Davies remains sidelined with a tendon injury but Joshua Kimmich, Kim Min-jae and Dayot Upamecano have returned to training and are set to be in the matchday squad.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who has been struggling with a knee problem, was set to take part in training on Friday before a decision is taken over whether he or Sven Ulreich will make the starting XI.

Martin Brassil is relishing the prospect of running Fastorslow in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, confident his star performer will not let him down on the big occasion.

Brassil’s flag-bearer had got the better of reigning Cheltenham champion Galopin Des Champs in both the Punchestown Gold Cup last April and the John Durkan earlier this season, but suffered defeat at the hands of Willie Mullins’ charge in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown last weekend.

Although beaten four and a half lengths, Fastorslow more than played his part in what was a terrific showpiece to the Dublin Racing Festival – and with the race run to suit the defending champion, Brassil was content with the performance of his charge.

He said: “We were very happy with the run and he hadn’t run since November 26, so you have to be very happy with it.”

There was an argument to suggest Fastorslow may have been able to test Galopin Des Champs on the run-in if he had not been distracted by the front-running mount of Paul Townend at the final obstacle.

However, Brassil believes that is immaterial to the outcome of this particular battle.

“We might have got a flyer (at the last, if Galopin Des Champs had not jinked) but my horse was quick to spot what the other horse did and he just hesitated and got over the fence carefully,” explained Brassil.

“He was on the back foot then and Galopin Des Champs had him all the way to the line. However, I don’t think there would have been any different result I would say, he had the run of the race dictating it, so in that race he always had our measure.”

Fastorslow now heads to Prestbury Park as the general 4-1 second favourite for the Gold Cup, as he prepares to tackle the odds-on favourite for a fifth time, with the score currently 2-2, but Brassil is expecting a much deeper event on March 15 at a venue where his charge has performed well in the past.

“If you headed into a Gold Cup only worrying about one horse, then you wouldn’t be doing too bad, but I’m sure there will be a lot more competition when we get to the race though,” he added.

“He seems to like Cheltenham, which is always a positive. He’s a horse who has never let us down and you can always depend on him to perform at his best. Sometimes that’s good enough and others you come up a bit short. If he continued to do that, there will be no one complaining.

“It’s five weeks today we’re working towards and we’re looking forward to it.”