Scarlets v Dragons: Teams

Scarlets head coach Nigel Davies is looking to emulate last weekend's Heineken Cup success with a near-identical line-up in the Magners League Welsh derby against Newport Gwent Dragons.

Only Jonathan Davies will be missing at Parc y Scarlets from the 15 which started in the triumph at London Irish, with the young centre resting to ensure total recuperation from a hip knock sustained in the win against Brive.

Rob Higgitt will replace Davies at inside centre, with Gareth Maule stepping up to take the spare place on the bench.

Scarlets are one of just four teams to have won both of their Heineken Cup clashes so far, but coach Davies insists that the team must temporarily put their Europe success on ice and concentrate on recovering from a disappointing start to the league.

"We're obviously very pleased with our last two performances but the emphasis this week has been on putting those to bed, parking them up for six weeks or so until Europe comes around again," said coach Davies.

"In the past few days we've been focusing on the challenge we face on Friday which will be huge for us particularly considering where we are in the Magners League.

"Our form in the league has been very good - we've been unlucky on a couple of occasions - and we were able to build on that during the European phase.

"What we have to do now is make sure that we keep going."

Return

Tom Willis returns from being sidelined with a calf injury to captain the Dragons in their visit to Parc y Scarlets.

The skipper makes his comeback to a team buoyed by recent Heineken Cup success against Glasgow last weekend.

Head coach Paul Turner has made some alterations to the squad that faced the Warriors, with forwards Lewis Evans and Adam Jones on the bench in favour of Hoani MacDonald and Robert Sidoli respectively.

Winger Richard Fussell returns from a flu virus to replace Will Harries, while Hugh Gustafson comes off the bench to take the number one jersey.

Gustafson is standing in for front-rower Phil Price, who added to Dragons' injury woes when a knee problem he sustained earlier this year was aggravated during the Glasgow clash.

Scarlets: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Lee Williams, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Rob Higgitt, 11 Mark Jones, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Martin Roberts, 1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Matthew Rees, 3 Deacon Manu, 4 Lou Reed, 5 Dominic Day, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 Dafydd Jones, 8 David Lyons.
Replacements: 16 Phil John, 17 Ken Owens, 18 Vernon Cooper, 19 Richie Pugh, 20 Tavis Knoyle, 21 Rhys Priestland, 22 Gareth Maule.

Dragons: 15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Aled Brew, 13 Tom Riley, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Wayne Evans, 1 Hugh Gustafson, 2 Tom Willis, 3 Peter Bracken, 4 Robert Sidoli, 5 Luke Charteris, 6 Danny Lydiate, 7 Gavin Thomas, 8 Hoani MacDonald.
Replacements: 16 Steve Jones, 17 Gethin Robinson, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Lewis Evans, 20 Jason Tovey, 21 Matthew Watkins, 22 Danny Lee.