Mark McCall insists Saracens will not fall for the "big, big, big mistake" of head-hunting Dan Carter in Saturday's European Champions Cup final.

New Zealand World Cup-winner Carter has driven Racing 92 to their first European final as the linchpin of the Parisian aristocrats.

The 34-year-old will aim to dictate proceedings in Lyon on Saturday, but Saracens director of rugby McCall promised his side will not waste energy chasing such an elusive target.

"It's a big, big, big mistake to think you're going to go and get Dan Carter," said McCall.

"Dan Carter's been doing this for a very long time. So we've got to make sure that his influence in the game isn't huge, isn't unbelievably significant.

"And if we can do that it means our pack have got on top in the scrum, in the lineout. It means we'll have put a little bit more pressure on him than he's experienced before.

"But if you run down his channel and think you're going to shake him up, you're not going to."

Maxime Machenaud's roaming threat from scrum-half has allowed Carter to span the full width of Racing's inside back cordon, leaving the All Black great always at arm's length from opposing forwards.

Leicester were unable to enforce any meaningful hits on the poster-boy playmaker in Racing's 19-16 semi-final victory in Nottingham, a situation Saracens have since noted well.

"Machenaud's unbelievably competitive, he gets his attack going," said McCall.

"He brings their big men into the game and someone we're going to have to watch like a hawk.

"He and Carter work very well together, and Dan Carter's an expert at picking his moment at when to involve himself, and usually it's a pretty good involvement.

"We've just got to make sure we're really alive to every time that he's going to get the ball, kick and try to put us under some pressure."

Saracens are back in the European showpiece for the first time since their galling 23-6 loss to Toulon in the last-ever Heineken Cup final in 2014.

Saracens flew down to Cardiff on the morning of that May 24 match at the Millennium Stadium, then were hit with lengthy delays to their train journey home after the defeat.

In a frustrating situation that compounded their defeat, Saracens then went on to lose the Premiership final to Northampton a week later, 24-20 after extra time.

"We made a big mistake two years ago: we tried to squeeze our day," said McCall.

"We flew down to Cardiff on the day of the match and struggled to get a train home after the match.

"It was the worst experience ever, because of what happened with the train.

"So this time we're going to go and enjoy ourselves and take our time, and embrace the weekend properly."