BAKER BACK ON THE BENCH AS OSPREYS HUNT BENETTON BOOST

Ospreys have named Wales international Dan Baker on the bench for the Guinness PRO14 encounter with Benetton Rugby at the Liberty Stadium tonight (7.35pm).

Fresh from his return to rugby after 699 days on the sidelines with injury, the 27-year-old threw a scare into the camp when failing to go the distance against Leinster last weekend.

Baker limped off after just 26 minutes in Dublin, sparking fears that the knee problem that had caused him so much grief had flared up again.

But it seems the call to remove him from the fray at the RDS was no more than a precaution, with Baker training without problems this week.

The news on the No.8 is a welcome tonic for the Ospreys.

They make two changes to the starting line-up for the date with Benetton.

Gareth Evans returns at No. 8 and Matthew Aubrey comes in for Shaun Venter, who was among those in the wars in the Irish capital, with Lloyd Ashley and Ben Glynn also exiting early.

Ashley is fit to resume but the Ospreys are again forced to use Dan Lydiate out of position in the second row.

Ospreys: C Evans; L Morgan, S Williams, T Thomas -Wheeler, K Giles; L Price, M Aubrey; R Jones, S Parry, T Botha, D Lydiate (c), L Ashley, O Cracknell, S Cross, G Evans. Reps: S Otten, G Thomas, G Gajion, W Griffiths, D Baker, R Morgan-Williams, T Williams, H Dirksen.

Benetton: L Sperandio; L Sarto, I Brex, A Sgarbi (c), M Ioane; I Keatley, L Petrozzi; C Traore, E Makelara, M Parri, N Cannone, M Fuser, M Lazzaroni, G Pettinelli, T Halafihi. Reps: T Baravalle, D Borean, F Alongi, L Manni, C Trussardi, I McKinley, A Rizzi, J Riera.

Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland).