England scrum-half Ben Youngs believes Italy have improved during the Six Nations and says he can see Mike Catt's influence on the side.
Eddie Jones' team face Italy at Twickenham on Saturday, attempting to recover from their 21-13 defeat to Wales last time out while the Azzurri are looking for their first win after defeats to Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
England have won two of their opening three matches but Youngs is wary of underestimating an Italy side who have progressed since former England player Catt - who made 75 appearances from 1994 to 2007 - joined Conor O'Shea's side as an attack coach in 2016.
"I've definitely seen a big improvement in terms of how they move the ball and the way they want to play," Youngs said.
"They have real mix of variety in their style. I can definitely see the Mike Catt vision coming through in how they are playing."
Youngs praised Italy for their performance against Ireland in their last match as O'Shea's team came close to stunning last year's Grand Slam champions.
Luca Morisi's try on the stroke of half-time gave Italy a 16-12 lead at the break before Joe Schmidt's side fought back in the second half, leaving Rome with a bonus-point win, 26-16.
"We certainly won't be underestimating them," Youngs added. "I know these games - sometimes the expectation is to go out there and blow them away and if you don't it's all doom and gloom.
"They put a lot of teams under pressure, they put Ireland under pressure for long periods of the game - and Wales - so we need to make sure we are where we need to be.
"That's why we've put such an emphasis on our own game this week."