Gloucester have made a number of changes to their starting line-up as they face Sale Sharks in the Gallagher Premiership at Kingsholm tomorrow (kick off 7:45pm).

The Gallagher Premiership season has now reached its halfway point, so the fight for the top four places in the table intensifies from here on in.

And Friday evening’s fixture has added significance for Gloucester as the match has been dedicated to shine a light on Mental Health Awareness and promote kindness using the hash tag #BeKind. The club have teamed up with the Samaritans for this purpose.

The changes in the backs see Tom Marshall return at full-back having missed out on last week’s trip to London Irish due to injury, while Louis Rees-Zammit is ruled out due to illness and replaced by Tom Seabrook. Meanwhile, at scrum-half, Callum Braley is back from Six Nations action with Italy.

Up front, Franco Marais has recovered from the injury that ruled him out of the encounter at the Madejski Stadium, while Jake Polledri is also back from Italy duty. Finally, Ben Morgan is back at number eight.

The Cherry and Whites were victorious on the opening weekend of the Premiership season at the AJ Bell Stadium, but the Sharks have been in good form recently and come to Kingsholm in second place in the table.

Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann knows it’ll be a tough match.

"We know what’s coming, there’s no secret,” he said. “They’re going to come full of confidence. They’re got a tremendous team full of internationals, and they’re going to test you because they’re physical, a side full of big men.

"We know that we can’t make the mistakes we did at London Irish, we have to up our game. And we believe we can do that. We’ve shown it in glimpses, and that's the frustrating thing because we know how good we can be."

Gloucester: 15. Tom Marshall; 14. Tom Seabrook, 13. Billy Twelvetrees, 12. Mark Atkinson, 11. Ollie Thorley; 10. Danny Cipriani, 9. Callum Braley; 1. Josh Hohneck, 2. Franco Marais, 3. Fraser Balmain; 4. Ed Slater, 5. Franco Mostert (capt); 6. Ruan Ackermann, 7. Jake Polledri, 8. Ben Morgan. Replacements: 16. Todd Gleave, 17. Val Rapava Ruskin, 18. Ciaran Knight, 19. Alex Craig, 20. Lewis Ludlow, 21. Charlie Chapman, 22. Lloyd Evans. 23. Matt Banahan. Unavailable for selection: Ruan Dreyer, Jamal Ford-Robinson, James Hanson, Chris Harris, Willi Heinz, Louis Rees-Zammit, Charlie Sharples, Joe Simpson, Owen Williams, Jason Woodward.