Aironi v Bath: Teams

Winless Aironi have been boosted by the return of Simone Favaro and Matteo Pratichetti for the visit of Bath in the Heineken Cup.

The newly-formed Italian outfit have shown some encouraging signs since kicking off their debut campaign, however that first victory has so far remained elusive.

Italy internationals Favaro and Pratichetti, though, return to the squad for the first time this season - with the duo shaking off injuries to be named on the bench.

Italy scrum-half Pablo Canavosio is set to start for the first time after five successive appearances off the bench, with Tito Tebaldi making way.

Giulio Rubini, Jaco Erasmus and captain Quintin Geldenhuys also return to the starting XV after missing the defeat to Ulster.

Bath have made just two changes to their back division as they look to bounce back from the 12-11 defeat to Biarritz.

Tom Biggs swaps places with Matt Carraro after being on the bench last time out, while England centre Shontayne Hape is replaced by Ben Williams.

And following the opening defeat to last season's beaten finalists, defence and skills coach Brad Davis insists Bath will not underestimate the Italians.

"Every game in the Heineken Cup is important in terms of getting through the pool stages," said defence and skills coach, Brad Davis.

"Following on from the defeat against Biarritz, this game takes on massive importance for us if we have any aspirations of getting through the pool stage.

"We're fully aware of what we need to achieve in Italy. Any time you go away - whether to Ireland, France, or, in this case, Italy - it's going to be a tough challenge and you're going to have to be physical."

Aironi: 15 Danwel Demas, 14 Giulio Toniolatti, 13 Rodd Penney, 12 Gilberto Pavan, 11 Giulio Rubini, 10 Ludovic Mercier, 9 Pablo Canavosio, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Andrea Benatti, 6 Jaco Erasmus, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys (c), 4 Marco Bortolami, 3 Luca Redolfini, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:16 Roberto Santamaria, 17 Ulises Gamboa, 18 Alberto De Marchi, 19 Carlo Del Fava, 20 Simone Favaro, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Matteo Pratichetti, 23 Riccardo Bocchino

Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Tom Biggs, 13 Ben Williams, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Sam Vesty, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Luke Watson (c), 6 Andy Beattie, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Stuart Hooper, 3 David Wilson, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 Nathan Catt.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 David Flatman, 18 Duncan Bell, 19 Ignacio Fernandez-Lobbe, 20 Ben Skirving, 21 Mark McMillan, 22 Matt Carraro, 23 Jack Cuthbert.