Big guns coming back but winger Sharples is set to miss Bath clash

SOME Gloucester stars could return from injury in Saturday’s Premiership Cup game against Bath at The Rec on Saturday.

The Cherry and Whites squad has been depleted by a raft of absences but the situation is set to ease with a number of players close to being back to full fitness.

Back row duo Jaco Kriel and Ruan Ackermann, hooker James Hanson, club captain Willi Heinz and versatile back Tom Marshall are all expected to be back soon, although backs coach Tim Taylor would not be drawn on which of them could feature this weekend.

“We’re going to finalise the team on Thursday,” he said.

“We’re going to wait on a few boys to come back and see if they can get through certain fitness things but I’m sure we’ll have a good mixture out there.

“We’re just seeing how they get through today and tomorrow and we can finalise that on Thursday.

“It’s all about, do you play them? Do you not? Do you give them another week?”

While Gloucester could be about to welcome back several players, there is an injury concern over leading try scorer Charlie Sharples.

Taylor said: “Sharps picked up a bit of a thumb injury over in Castres but that won’t have a long-term affect on him.

“It’s lucky we’ve got this three-week block for him to get that right so it shouldn’t be too long.”

Gloucester can still reach the semifinals of the Premiership Cup as the best runners-up after Northampton secured top spot in Pool Three with their win over Leicester last weekend.

They need to beat Bath though and hope other results go their way though with Newcastle and Worcester both having more points than them as it stands with fixtures against Sale and Wasps respectively on Sunday.

The senior squad have just returned to training after having a week off and if Gloucester don’t go through they will have another weekend off before their Premiership game against leaders Exeter Chiefs on Friday, January 15 but Taylor insists that won’t influence their selection.

“Whether the boys play this week or not, we’ve got this block to get the boys fit and really improve our game, where we need to work on and what we need to do to get better,” he said.

“I’m sure there’ll be a good mix of senior boys and academy boys out this week and we’re looking forward to it.

“It’s a big Bath game and we’ve still got an opportunity to qualify so we’ll try our best to do that.”