Newcastle Falcons have made two changes to their side for Sunday's Guinness Premiership visit of Bath to Kingston Park (kick-off 3pm).

Hall Charlton replaces Micky Young at scrum half, while in the pack Adam Balding is ruled out having left the field with illness halfway through the Falcons’ match at Worcester last Friday.

A rejigged back row sees Will Welch coming on to the openside flank, with Brent Wilson shifting to the blindside and Peter Browne reverting to No.8.

The third and final change to the side comes on the wing, as fit-again Charlie Amesbury replaces Gcobani Bobo.

On the bench there is a return for fit-again prop Laurence Ovens, who has recovered from a rib injury in time to face his former club.

Speaking ahead of the game, Falcons director of rugby Steve Bates said: “The result at Worcester didn’t go our way last weekend, which was the main thing, but I think there was enough in the performance to suggest that we can be really positive going in to Sunday’s game.

“We made mistakes at crucial times which let the pressure off the opposition, but generally I think we created a lot of good stuff. Clearly we need to make improvements such as kicking our goals and finishing off our moves, and we’ve been working hard on that during the week in readiness for Bath.”

With results elsewhere seeing the bottom end of the table compacted significantly over the past fortnight, Bates added: “We can’t do anything about the outcome of other games, so we just need to concentrate on what we’re doing rather than worrying about which other teams are winning which other matches.

“As I’ve said time and time again this is a close league, and every team is capable of beating each other on their day. The fact that Leeds have won two on the bounce is no surprise to me, because they’re a good team, but all I’m bothered with is Newcastle Falcons and getting us back up the table.

“There’s still virtually a third of the season left to go with seven games out of 22 still to play, and it will undoubtedly be an interesting last couple of months. We’re one win away from being in seventh place, and Leeds are one win away from being off the bottom, so we know the who le league is going to be very tight and it’s far too early to be saying who’s going to finish where.

“All we can do is remain nice and positive, continue to work hard in training and go into every game believing that we can win. I’m confident in the group of players that we have here, and with the support of our home fans on Sunday we’re looking forward to a big test and an exciting challenge against Bath here on Sunday.

“We know we need to be much more clinical in attack, but we know we’re capable and it’s not a problem that’s exclusive to us. We need to keep that scoreboard ticking over, and if we can ally that to our solid defence then we have a great foundation here. At Worcester we kept the ball well, we moved it around more effectively than we have been and our variety was better. Lots of bits of our game are improving, and it’s just a case of knitting them all together.”

Having already beaten Bath once this season via a memorable 27-16 bonus point away win back in October, Bates said: “It was a good game for us down there, but we know that they are a very dangerous side in a really good run of form.

“They scrummaged very well at Saracens last weekend, they’ve taken some notable scalps and we’ll have to be right on our game to beat them. We’ve shown already this season that we’re capable of that, and we’re going into Sunday with a lot of belief and confidence in our ability.”

Tickets for Sunday’s game are still available by calling 0871 226 60 60, or from Kingston Park on the day.

Newcastle Falcons team to face Bath Rugby:

15 Alex Tait
14 Danny Williams
13 Rob Vickerman
12 Tane Tu’ipulotu
11 Charlie Amesbury
10 Jimmy Gopperth
9 Hall Charlton

1 Jon Golding
2 Rob Vickers
3 Carl Hayman (captain)
4 James Hudson
5 Tim Swinson
6 Brent Wilson
7 Will Welch
8 Peter Browne

Replacements:

16 Alex Walker
17 Micky Ward
18 Laurence Ovens
19 Mark Sorenson
20 Josh Afu
21 Micky Young
22 Rob Miller
23 Gcobani Bobo