Worcester v Ospreys: Teams

Worcester director of rugby Mike Ruddock has admitted the Ospreys will pose a "very difficult proposition" for his winless Warriors.

With the club struggling for the results in the Guinness Premiership, the EDF Energy Cup is unlikely to offer them any respite - with a star-studded Ospreys side set to arrive at Sixways.

Ruddock, from his time at Swansea and as Wales coach, knows only too well what to expect from the region, but is confident his side can cause an upset.

He told the club's official site: "I know all about Ospreys and they got to the final of the EDF Energy Cup last season so they know what it takes to perform well in this tournament.

"They have a lot of big match players and won the Magners League last season, they are a very difficult proposition. Lyn Jones and Sean Holley have done a great job with this team by winning two Celtic League titles. You can see the strength in their side and they will want to hit top gear as they approach Europe.

"But we will go out there to win and get a result. We want to play well in front of our fans.

"We will push on with our game plan and our style of play; we don't see any reason to change them.

Errors

"All the indicators show we are not under pressure and are winning more ball than the opposition. We just need to cut down our errors and silly mistakes that have cost us games."

Ruddock has made just one change to his line-up with Phil Murphy replacing Will Bowley in the second row.

The Ospreys are determined to go on to lift the EDF Energy Cup having come so close in the 2007 final.

The Welsh region were toppled by Leicester in an enthralling showpiece last season, but head coach Lyn Jones is confident that they can lift the silverware this time around.

He told the club's official site: "After last year's narrow loss in the final against Leicester at Twickenham both players and supporters are keen to see us make amends and go one step further this year.

"This is a great tournament and we hugely enjoyed last season's competition. There is always an edge when you play the English clubs that comes from both traditional rivalries and from the fact that we simply do not come up against each other that often.

Exciting

"This lack of familiarity is exciting for us as coaches and players and it should give spectators an enjoyable and open match."

The Ospreys are without Gareth Owen, Andy Lloyd, David Bishop and Ryan Jones, however they have side packed full of international stars - including the exciting nine, 10, 12 combination of Justin Marshall, James Hook and Gavin Henson.

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

Ospreys: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 James Hook, 9 Justin Marshall, 1 Duncan Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 3 Cai Griffiths, 4 Ian Gough, 5 Ian Evans, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Ben Lewis, 8 Filo Tiatia (c).
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Adam Jones, 18 Alun Wyn Jones, 19 Steve Tandy, 20 Mike Phillips, 21 Shaun Connor, 22 Andrew Bishop.