Tigers v Worcester: Teams

Acting Leicester coach Richard Cockerill is expecting a "physical encounter" when winless Worcester arrive at Welford Road.

Worcester slumped to defeat against Leeds on Friday and now lie bottom of the Premiership pile.

However, Cockerill has no doubt that the wounded Warriors will come out fighting against his Tigers side.

He told the club's official site: "They're desperate for a win and we desperately need a win as well.

Physical

"They're a very big, physical team with a coach with a huge reputation. They've actually played some really good stuff this year and, at times, they've had a bit of bad luck.

"They've got a huge pack of forwards and they play to that strength so it'll be good to see how our boys deal with that."

Cockerill's side will be beefed up by the return of powerhouse winger Seru Rabeni, who is available after his exploits with Fiji in the World Cup.

Leicester also welcome Ben Herring into the starting XV, with the flanker making his first start since moving from the Wellington Hurricanes, while Sam Vesty is named in the centres.

Worcester director of rugby Mike Ruddock insists spirit is high among his side, despite the Warriors finding themselves at the bottom of the table.

Worcester have lost four games and drawn one, and now face a tough test against the defending Premiership champions.

However Ruddock insists his side has the desire to get things right.

Spirit

He told the club's official site: "There is great spirit and morale in the team, I can't fault the guys in terms of their commitment and desire to get it right.

"It's just about doing things well all the time under pressure, we need to push on starting at Leicester."

Ruddock has made five changes to his pack, with a new-look front row of former Tiger Darren Morris, Aleki Lutui and Tevita Taumoepeau, while Will Bowley comes into the second row and Gavin Quinnell is handed his first start of the season in the back row.

In the backs, Ruddock has teamed up Ryan Powell and Loki Crichton as his new half-back pairing.

Leicester: 15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Johne Murphy, 13 Ollie Smith, 12 Sam Vesty, 11 Seru Rabeni, 10 Paul Burke, 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Boris Stankovich, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 4 James Hamilton, 5 Louis Deacon (c), 6 Marco Wentzel, 7 Ben Herring, 8 Brett Deacon.
Replacements: 16 Mefin Davies, 17 David Young, 18 Luke Abraham, 19 Jordan Crane, 20 Frank Murphy, 21 Matt Cornwell, 22 Tom Varndell.

Worcester: 15 Shane Drahm, 14 Marcel Garvey, 13 Dale Rasmussen, 12 Mark Tucker, 11 Thinus Delport, 10 Loki Crichton, 9 Ryan Powell, 1 Darren Morris, 2 Aleki Lutui, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 4 Will Bowley, 5 Craig Gillies, 6 Drew Hickey, 7 Pat Sanderson (c), 8 Gavin Quinnell.
Replacements: 16 Tony Windo, 17 Ben Gotting, 18 Phil Murphy, 19 Kai Horstmann, 20 Matt Powell, 21 James Brown, 22 Miles Benjamin.