PAUL Sackey insists sentiment will go out of the window tomorrow when he makes his Harlequins debut against the side where he enjoyed the best years of his career.

The veteran winger spent five years at London Wasps, from 2005-2010, during which time he won the Heineken Cup twice and made all of his 22 England appearances, before heading off for three years playing in France.

But all that will mean nothing to Sackey when his new side take on his old in the London Double Header at Twickenham in the Premiership curtain raiser.

He said: “I will always love and respect Wasps because of the good times I had with them and all the trophies I won, but I am with Quins now and want to win stuff with them too.

“As far as I'm concerned, it will just be playing another team I want to beat. It's not the same Wasps as I was at anyway – a lot of the people I knew aren't there any more and a lot of my friends have moved on.

“They also having a different way of playing now and different tactics to my day, so unfortunately I can't really be a spy in the camp.”

For a player whose appearances over the past two seasons could be counted on the fingers of one hands, concerns about the 33 year old's match fitness would be natural.

However, Sackey insists there is no issue with his fitness, and although he has had little in the way of pre-season compared to others, he is raring to go.

He said: “I'm a professional rugby player, so I'm still fit and I've had to be ready to play if needed at any time. I'm quite fit anyway and have been training on my own too, so it won't be too hard to get match fit.

“I've only had a couple of weeks of pre-season while others have had a couple of months, so I've had to learn quickly, as every club has a different way of doing things and ways of playing.

“What's made it easier is the fact that Quins play the way I like to play – expansive rugby and getting the ball in the wingers' hands – which makes it enjoyable and is the reason I play rugby, and it hasn't always been like that at other clubs.”