Team news: Peterson back to face Gloucester on Friday
The USA international is back in the starting line-up after serving a two-game ban for the red card he received against Saracens last month – a match in which the Falcons picked up a losing bonus point despite playing a man down for more than hour away against the league leaders.
Peterson’s return sees Argentina international Pedro Rubiolo switch to the back row, with scrum-half Michael Young captaining the side on his 199th appearance for the Falcons.
On the bench there could be a Gallagher Premiership debut for fly-half Josh Thomas, with the Welshman making seven appearances in cup action for the club after arriving from Ospreys last summer.
Newcastle are out to complete a home-and-away double over Gloucester after winning 27-21 at Kingsholm in November, and will be led for the game by interim head coach Mark Laycock.
He said: “Gloucester are a well-coached side and we’re expecting a big challenge for them, but it’s one we’re really looking forward to.
“We’ve got four games left, and the message among the squad is that they want to play for each other and finish strongly.
“Training has been really positive this week, and as always the guys are working hard to put in a big performance in front of our home supporters.”
Asked how the squad had reacted to the news that he would take charge of the team during the run-in to the season, Laycock said: “They’ve been really professional about it, as I’d expect.
“It’s obviously a lot to take in but the focus from the players and staff has been really good, and everyone’s looking forward to the game.
“We’re a tight-knit group and we want to finish the season with some positive performances to show our fans what we’re about, which is the most important thing over these next four games.
“We’d been going well either side of Christmas but just lost our momentum a bit, and we’ve fallen away from the pack as a result. We’ll be looking to make amends and push on, and that begins on Friday against Gloucester.”
[**Click here**][1] to buy tickets for Friday’s game.
**Newcastle Falcons team v Gloucester (Friday, 7.45pm, Kingston Park, live on BT Sport)**
15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Matias Orlando, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Michael Young (captain); 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 Jamie Blamire, 3 Richard Palframan, 4 Greg Peterson, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 6 Pedro Rubiolo, 7 Callum Chick, 8 Carl Fearns.
**Replacements:** 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Logovi’i Mulipola, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Freddie Lockwood, 20 Tom Marshall, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Josh Thomas, 23 Ben Stevenson.
**Not available for selection:** Connor Collett, Luke Coulston, Gary Graham, Ewan Greenlaw, Zach Kerr, Charlie Maddison, Tom Penny, Guy Pepper, Vereimi Qorowale, Sean Robinson, Oliver Spencer, Iwan Stephens, Philip van der Walt, George Wacokecoke, Will Welch.
**Gloucester:** 15 Lloyd Evans, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Santi Carreras, 9 Stephen Varney; 1 Harry Elrington, 2 Seb Blake, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 4 Freddie Clarke, 5 Matias Alemanno, 6 Jordy Reid, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 8 Ruan Ackermann.
**Replacements:** 16 Henry Walker, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Tom Seabrook.
**Referee:** Adam Leal.
[1]: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/newcastle-falcons/EDP/Event/Index/1746