Gloucester have made a number of changes to their starting line-up, some tactical and some injury-enforced, for tomorrow night's Aviva Premiership Rugby clash at Sale Sharks.

The six changes from the team that started last week against Worcester are split evenly between the backs and forwards. The three new faces in the pack – Richard Hibbard, Gareth Denman and Lewis Ludlow – come in for Motu Matu'u, John Afoa and Jacob Rowan who are all named as replacements.

Meanwhile, the back line is reshuffled due to injuries. Henry Trinder starts in the midfield alongside Billy Twelvetrees while there are two new faces on the wings in David Halaifonua and Henry Purdy.

Indeed, it's an injury-ravaged Gloucester squad that heads north to take on the Sharks, with no fewer than 15 players ruled out as the Cherry and Whites look to make it three wins in a row at the AJ Bell Stadium.

That said, there is a bonus in being able to select summer signing Owen Williams in the matchday squad for the first time as he is named among the replacements.

It's another new venue for head coach Johan Ackermann and he knows that Gloucester will be up against a resolute Sale outfit.

“If you look at Sale, they have quality all over,” he said. “Traditionally I have heard that they always come at you physically, but they have X factor players all over.

“We all know about Faf (de Klerk) who I coached for a number of years. We know about Denny Solomona on the wing. But they have quality all over, so we have to be good defensively and also at the set-piece and first phase.”

Gloucester have lost twice on the road this season and Ackermann is keen for his side to perform as well away from home as they do at Kingsholm.

“I don't want to have to use travel as an excuse,” he said. “ A good side stays in the moment, in the process of what they need to do. If you want to win competitions, you have to start to find a way to win away from home.

“We can control the parts between the white lines on Friday. We can't control anything outside that, the weather etc. We have to ensure we pitch up with the right mindset, look after the ball and give it a go. If we look after our style, our game then we have to believe we have a shot.”

Meanwhile, Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond says James O’Connor is itching to make his bow for the club tomorrow.

The Australian fly-half joined Sale in the summer from French club Toulon but has been sidelined up to now after undergoing ankle surgery in the close season.

But having trained with Sale for the past fortnight, the Wallabies playmaker has been named on the replacements’ bench for the visit of Gloucester.

And with both Will Addison and Johnny Leota facing spells on the sidelines through injury, O’Connor’s availability couldn’t be better timed.

“James will come on from the bench at some stage,” Diamond confirmed.

“He has trained well for the past two or three weeks and he’s probably 95 per cent there.

“And with Johnny and Will being out injured, James has stuck up his hand and said he is ready for action for Sale so it is really good.

“We can’t take anything for granted tomorrow night. Gloucester have beaten us up here the last could of times they have visited the AJ Bell and they have started the season very well.

“But we know we have got a good team together and we know we can deliver – now we need to show that at home on Friday night.”

Sale will go into the game looking for a reaction following last weekend’s disappointing 41-13 loss at Saracens.

And with skipper Addison sidelined, summer signing Jono Ross will be entrusted with the captaincy assisted by another new arrival, Springbok scrum-half Faf De Klerk.

“The lads were blown away last week at Saracens. They were far better than us in all areas and it was a bit of a reality check,” the Sale director of rugby reflected.

“So we’ve gone right back to basics in training this week and we’re looking forward to putting it all together against Gloucester.

“Unfortunately Will has cracked his jaw in training and he won’t be fit so Jono Ross will be captain and Faf will be vice-captain.”

“They have taken the group by the scruff of the neck and demanded that standards be raised.”

Sale: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Sam James, 12 Mark Jennings,11 Byron McGuigan, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Faf de Klerk, 1 Ross Harrison, 2 Rob Webber, 3 Alex Tarus, 4 Bryn Evans, 5 Josh Beaumont, 6 Jono Ross (Captain), 7 Ben Curry, 8 Josh Strauss. Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 James Flynn,18 Halani Aulika, 19 Andre Ostrikov, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Cameron Neild,22 Will Cliff, 23 James O’Connor

Gloucester: 15. Jason Woodward, 14. David Halaifonua, 13. Henry Trinder, 12. Billy Twelvetrees, 11. Henry Purdy, 10. Billy Burns, 9. Willi Heinz (capt), 1. Val Rapava Ruskin, 2. Richard Hibbard, 3. Gareth Denman, 4. Ed Slater, 5. Jeremy Thrush, 6. Freddie Clarke, 7. Lewis Ludlow, 8. Ruan Ackermann. Replacements: 16. Motu Matu'u, 17. Josh Hohneck, 18. John Afoa, 19. Tom Savage, 20. Jacob Rowan, 21. Callum Braley, 22. Owen Williams, 23. Ben Vellacott. Unavailable for selection: Mark Atkinson, Fraser Balmain, Tom Denton, Gareth Evans, Lloyd Evans, Mariano Galarza, Tom Hudson, Tom Marshall, Ben Morgan, Ross Moriarty, Tom Seabrook, Matt Scott, Charlie Sharples, Andy Symons, Ollie Thorley