British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland has expressed his eagerness to remain unbeaten heading into their first Test with Australia next week.

The Lions have selected a strong side ahead of their penultimate warm-up match with the Waratahs on Saturday, having won all of their opening four games.

The tourists will face the Wallabies for the first time on their travels a week on Saturday, and Gatland wants to take his team's momentum into the series.

"It would be great to remain unbeaten and take that momentum into the first Test. However, more importantly we are looking to finalise key playing combinations and strengthen our patterns of play during the next two matches," Gatland told the Lions official website.

"This match, the fourth of our lead-up matches in Australia, will assist in this process. To beat the Waratahs we know we have to improve on our strong performance last Saturday against the Reds. This side is more than capable of doing that.

"The tour has now moved on to Sydney, where we face another tough examination in front of a parochial sell-out crowd."

The Lions face the Waratahs on Saturday, before taking on the Brumbies on Tuesday.