Sale v Cardiff Blues: Teams

England fly-half Charlie Hodgson is set to make his return to the Sale line-up for the crunch Heineken Cup encounter against Cardiff Blues at Edgeley Park.

Director of rugby Kingsley Jones has opted to bring his talismanic No.10 back in alongside Wales scrum-half Dwayne Peel, who started the defeat to Toulouse.

And the premature team announcement could be viewed as a statement of intent from the Sale chief after fielding his largely second-string XV for the fixture against the French giants.

"This is a massive game for us. Not just in terms of giving ourselves a chance to advance out of the pool stages of the Heineken Cup, but we owe our supporters a big performance at home," said Jones.

"Cardiff have a very strong squad and the experience of reaching the semi-finals in this competition. If they have injuries, they also have quality players that can cover all their positions.

"They will be coming here expecting to win."

Mark Cueto and Lee Thomas also return to a re-jigged backline, while in the pack Sisa Koyaimabole, Dean Schofield, Eifion Lewis Roberts, Marc Jones and Andrew Sheridan are recalled.

Gethin Jenkins is set to make his first appearance of the season for the Blues when they travel to Sale.

The British and Irish Lions prop has been sidelined since his tour to South Africa was cut short.

However he will now captain a Blues line-up that is missing John Yapp, Bradley Davies, Gareth Thomas, Paul Tito and Xavier Rush.

Sale Sharks: 15 Nick MacLeod, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Andy Tuilagi, 12 Lee Thomas, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Sisa Koyaimabole, 7 David Seymour, 6 Carl Fearns, 5 Dean Schofield, 4 James Gaskell, 3 Eifion Lewis Roberts, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Neil Briggs, 17 Gavin Kerr, 18 Jack Forster, 19 Sean Cox, 20 Luke Abraham, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Mathew Tait, 23 Chris Bell.

Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tom James, 10 Sam Norton-Knight, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Andy Powell, 7 Robin Sowden Taylor, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Scott Morgan, 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 Taufa'au Filise, 2 Gareth Williams, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 T Rhys Thomas, 17 Darren Morris, 18 Gary Powell, 19 Ben White, 20 Rhys Williams, 21 Gareth Cooper, 22 Ceri Sweeney, 23 Richard Mustoe