ENGLAND squad centre Ben Te'o and skipper Gerrit-Jan van Velze have been ruled out of Worcester Warriors' crunch clash against Sale tomorrow (3pm).
Head coach Carl Hogg said he had expected both players to be fit for the Aviva Premiership showdown at Sixways.
But Te'o and van Velze have failed to recover from the head injuries which they picked up earlier this month.
Phil Dowson will lead Warriors in his 250th Premiership appearance.
Hogg makes four changes to the side who lost 37-22 at Bath last weekend as Nick Schonert, Ryan Lamb, Cooper Vuna and Alafoti Fa'osiliva all return to the starting line-up.
Academy winger Josh Adams is again named on the bench following his impressive display at The Recreation Ground while there’s a call-up for Max Stelling following his performances for Worcester Cavaliers.
Hogg said: “We’ve always said how important home games are. We’ve got to try and make Sixways a real fortress for us.
“This weekend is another great opportunity for some of our younger guys who performed extremely well at Bath.”
Director of rugby Steve Diamond has made four changes to Sale’s starting XV who lost to Gloucester last Friday.
AJ MacGinty returns to the side at fly half after missing the previous two games.
His half-back partner will be Peter Stringer, who makes his first start of the season.
Kieran Longbottom comes in at tighthead prop to make his first start for the club and there is a reshuffle in the backline with Sam James missing out with a hamstring injury.
Will Addison moves to centre and Nev Edwards starts on the wing.
Nick Scott, who joined the club in the close season from Newport Gwent Dragons, is on the bench.
Diamond said: "We had a team meeting on Monday and discussed the Gloucester game.
“We know what we have to do to up our performances and hopefully this will start at Sixways.
"Make no mistake though, Worcester now have a 4G pitch and are also scoring points as they showed in the games against Gloucester and Bath.
“Training has gone well this week and we are looking forward to the game.”
Warriors
15 Jamie Shillcock
14 Perry Humphreys
13 Wynand Olivier
12 Jackson Willison
11 Cooper Vuna
10 Ryan Lamb
9 Jonny Arr
1 Val Rapava Ruskin
2 Niall Annett
3 Nick Schonert
4 Donncha O’Callaghan
5 Darren Barry
6 Alafoti Faosiliva
7 Carl Kirwan
8 Phil Dowson (C)
Replacements:
16 Jaba Bregvadze
17 Na’ama Leleimalefaga
18 James Johnston
19 Christian Scotland-Williamson
20 Tevita Cavubati
21 Luke Baldwin
22 Max Stelling
Sale Sharks
15 Byron McGuigan
14 Nev Edwards
13 Will Addison
12 Johnny Leota
11 Paolo Odogwu
10 AJ MacGinty
9 Peter Stringer
1 Eifion Lewis-Roberts
2 Neil Briggs
3 Kieran Longbottom
4 Bryn Evans
5 Jonathan Mills
6 Cameron Neild
7 David Seymour
8 Josh Beaumont (c)
Replacements:
16 Ross Harrison
17 Halani Aulika
18 Andrei Ostrikov
19 Laurence Pearce
20 Magnus Lund
21 Mike Phillips
22 Dan Mugford
23 Nick Scott
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