Sale v Northampton: Teams

Jack Forster returns to the front row in the Sale starting XV to host Northampton in LV= Cup round three action on Friday.

Both teams go into the clash at top of their respective pools and are seeking a win in the race to the semi-finals.

Sale director of rugby Kingsley Jones has also re-installed David Seymour to the fold following the flanker's time out with injury and is expecting his team to claim some compensation for their Heineken Cup exit last week.

"After the disappointment of going out of Europe last weekend, we have a good opportunity to try and make progress in the LV=Cup," said Jones.

"We had a good win last time out against Leeds in November and I have selected my strongest available side for this game."

Saints are the only Guinness Premiership side through to the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup, and Jones is expecting a tough challenge.

"Northampton will be buzzing after their great display in Ireland last week and they also had a good run in this competition last season," he added. "Should be a great game, we are looking forward to it."

Focused

Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder insists his side are fully focused on the clash, having never won at Edgeley Park.

"We were part of a superb occasion last Friday but now we have to get our feet back on the ground and concentrate on winning at Edgeley Park," said Mallinder.

"We have gone well in the Anglo-Welsh Cup this season and we want that run to continue. Only one team can qualify from our pool into the semi-finals and we want that to be us. To be in that position we need to keep winning, but we will have our work cut out for us tomorrow."

Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe will take over captain duties for Northampton as skipper Dylan Hartley is away with England.

Hooker Andy Long and senior academy forward Owen Giles have been named on the bench and could make their first team debuts.

Sale: 15 Nick Macleod, 14 Ben Cohen, 13 Jonny Kennedy, 12 David Bishop, 11 David Doherty, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 David Seymour, 6 Chris Jones, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Dean Schofield (c), 3 Jack Forster, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Eifion Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Mahonri Schwalger, 17 Gavin Kerr, 18 Martin Halsall, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Chris Leck, 22 Marika Vakacegu, 23 Oriol Ripol.

Northampton: 15 Bruce Reihana, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Chris Mayor, 11 Paul Diggin, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Alan Dickens, 8 Mark Easter, 7 Scott Gray, 6 Neil Best, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe (c), 3 Euan Murray, 2 Brett Sharman,1 Brian Mujati.
Replacements: 16 Andy Long, 17 Soane Tonga'uiha, 18 Alex Waller, 19 Owen Giles, 20 Roger Wilson, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Barry Everitt, 23 Nick Greenhalgh.