Gloucester v Sale: Teams

England centre Mike Tindall will play his first game since October when Gloucester entertain Sale at Kingsholm on Sunday.

Tindall has been sidelined since aggravating a hamstring injury in the reverse fixture against the Sharks - however he will now partner Tim Molenaar in the midfield.

James Simpson-Daniel and Rory Lawson also return to the backline, with fit -again Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu named on the bench.

In the pack Will James and Peter Buxton replace the injured Dave Attwood and Luke Narraway.

And Gloucester head coach Bryan Redpath is expecting a tough encounter against his former side.

"Sale lost last weekend and they're in a dogfight so it's not going to be easy. We've got to respect them but we have to get our stuff right first, starting with our defence," said Redpath.

"Kingsley (Jones) knows Gloucester. He was a player here and he'll be passionate about coming here and performing. You have to be wary of a team that may be wounded because of a result that wasn't expected."

"But, it's for us now in this position of ninth in the table to make sure we perform well at home and push up that table again."

Tough

Sale have once again rotated at the base with Richard Wigglesworth in for Dwayne Peel to face Gloucester in the Guinness Premiership on Saturday.

Director of rugby Kingsley Jones is, however, without Carl Fearns and Lee Thomas for the trip to Kingsholm. Fearns has a shoulder injury and Thomas damaged his fingers in the recent defeat to Leeds.

Brent Cockbain comes straight back into the starting XV after his recovery from a hamstring injury sustained against Gloucester in October - with Dean Schofield ruled out.

"It's been a really tough week and it's still going to continue to be a tough week until we get the chance to play this Saturday against Gloucester and hopefully redeem ourselves," Jones said in reflection of last weekend's loss.

"It doesn't get any easier in the Premiership, but we need to go to Kingsholm and put it right because Friday night was unacceptable. There are no excuses. It was very disappointing for everybody involved in the club: for the owners, the supporters, the staff and the players.

Eager to move up the Premiership table from tenth place, Jones admitted: "We've got to play every game as if it's our last, with a lot of desire and a lot of passion, because ultimately that's why Leeds beat us last weekend. They were more desperate than us.

"People are saying 'we've got too much quality in the squad to be in a relegation battle', 'we've got a game in hand' and 'we've got five home games left this season'. That is absolute rubbish. We've got to get out of that mentality right now.

"The mentality we need right now is to be as desperate as Leeds have been from the first game of the season: playing every game like it's a relegation battle.

"Kingsholm is a tough place to go and play. We are both desperate for a win. What I'm expecting is that our players can get back on the bus after the game and look me in the eye whether we win, lose or draw. The minimum requirement is that they give 110 per cent every time they put the Sale Sharks shirt on."

Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Tim Molenaar, 11 Lesley Vainikolo, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Rory Lawson, 1 Nick Wood, 2 Olivier Azam, 3 Greg Somerville, 4 Will James, 5 Alex Brown, 6 Peter Buxton, 7 Akapusi Qera, 8 Gareth Delve (capt).
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Paul Doran-Jones, 18 Pierre Capdevielle, 19 Adam Eustace, 20 Andrew Hazell, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Tim Taylor, 23 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu

Sale: 15 Marika Vakacegu, 14 Oriol Ripol, 13 Dafydd James, 12 David Bishop, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 David Seymour, 6 Kristian Ormsby, 5 Brent Cockbain, 4 Chris Jones, 3 Martin Halsall, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Eifion Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Neil Briggs, 17 Gavin Kerr, 18 Rob O'Donnell, 19 Ian Kench, 20 Sean Cox, 21 Dwayne Peel, 22 Ed Styles, 23 Jordan Davies.