Bath v Northampton: Teams

Nicky Little has been named to start for Bath in their rearranged Guinness Premiership clash against Northampton on Tuesday night.

The fly-half steps in for Butch James, who suffered a mild ankle strain during Bath's 34-15 bonus point victory against Sale on Saturday.

A total of five changes to the starting XV see Shontayne Hape replace Matt Carraro at outside centre, while Michael Stephenson takes over from Matt Banahan on the wing.

Ben Skirving replaces Andy Beattie in the number six jersey, while David Wilson steps in at tighthead for Duncan Bell.

Revival

After making a return to form against the Sharks, head coach Steve Meehan is hoping Bath, who underwent new ownership last week, can maintain their winning ways when they host Saints at the Rec.

"With a new owner coming in was a week that none of us have experienced before and there were some basic errors in the first 20 minutes I think as a result," said Meehan.

"But, the players got that out of their systems and then really played well.

"It was a great start for the new chairman and a nice way to send (former owner) Andrew (Brownsword) off."

Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder, meanwhile, has been forced to completely rotate his line-up following his team's 38-23 triumph over Gloucester at the weekend.

Mallinder has been caused a selection headache due to the requirements of the England Senior and Saxons Elite playing squads that stipulate a player cannot feature for more than 160 minutes over three matches.

Prolific winger Chris Ashton, who posted a hat-trick of tries against the Cherry and Whites, is replaced by Paul Diggin as a result, while Barry Everitt starts at full-back in place of Ben Foden.

Joe Ansbro is named at centre alongside Jon Clarke, who switches to number 12, while Shane Geraghty starts at fly-half where he will partner Alan Dickens.

A new look front row has also been named in the form of loose-head Regardt Dreyer, hooker Brett Sharman and tight-head Brian Mujati.

Lock Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe replaces Dylan Hartley as captain and will feature alongside James Cannon, while changes to the back row see blindside Mark Easter, openside Neil Best and number eight Mark Hopley all included.

Crucial

A win would see Saints displace Leicester at the top of the standings, and Mallinder is confident his team can produce the crucial result.

"Bath have had a good run of results in the past few months and are playing well," said Mallinder.

"We are certainly expecting a tough game at the Rec tomorrow evening. But there is a good mood in the squad ahead of the game. We have confidence that the team that we have named can get a positive result at Bath."

Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Joe Maddock, 13 Shontayne Hape, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Michael Stephenson, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Michael Claassens (capt), 1 David Barnes, 2 Lee Mears, 3 David Wilson, 4 Danny Grewcock, 5 Stuart Hooper, 6 Ben Skirving, 7 Julian Salvi, 8 Luke Watson
Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Scott Hobson, 20 Daniel Browne, 21 Scott Bemand, 22 Tom Cheeseman.

Northampton: 15 Barry Everitt, 14 Paul Diggin, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Jon Clarke, 11 Bruce Reihana, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Alan Dickens, 1 Regardt Dreyer, 2 Brett Sharman, 3 Brian Mujati, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe(capt), 5 James Cannon, 6 Mark Easter, 7 Neil Best, 8 Mark Hopley
Replacements: 16 Andy Long, 17 Euan Murray, 18 Soane Tonga'uiha, 19 Juandre Kruger, 20 Roger Wilson, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 James Downey, 23 Grant Pointer.