Sale and England prop Andrew Sheridan returns to play his first home game New Years Day for Friday's Premiership clash with Exeter.
Wales scrum-half Dwayne Peel is also back having missed the last two games after a bang on the head sustained at Northampton. Charlie Hodgson plays his last ever home game for Sale Sharks before joining Saracens in the summer.
"Rob Baxter has done a great job down at Exeter. He has assembled a good side who are very competitive," said Executive Director of Sport Steve Diamond.
"We have trained hard all week and are looking to finish the season at Edgeley Park with a victory."
Meanwhile, Exeter's Argentine fly-half Ignacio Mieres says he is "excited" about the prospect of making his first-ever Aviva Premiership start for Chiefs
A regular fixture on the Chiefs bench in recent weeks, the Argentine ace has now been promoted from the sidelines by Rob Baxter as one of three changes to the line-up from that which went down at home to high-flying Saracens last weekend.
With the Chiefs keen to end a run of four successive Premiership defeats, Mieres will form a new half-back partnership with the returning Haydn Thomas, whilst Welshman Phil Dollman returns to the Exeter midfield.
Making way for the trio are Gareth Steenson, Junior Poluleuligaga and Jason Shoemark, the latter of whom has been unable to train this week due to illness.
For Mieres, though, his patient wait has finally paid dividends and he is now ready to assume the role of Exeter's chief playmaker in this the club's penultimate league fixture of the season.
"I am excited about starting the match," he said.
"It's going to be my second start since I came here and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm here to play. I've trained hard and done everything I can to get in the first team - and having the chance to play ten or 15 minutes recently has been good.
"I have tried to make the most of it and that has given me a lot of confidence that the coaches have picked me to start a game."
Mieres' only other starting role for the Chiefs came back in early November when he produced a man-of-the-match display in his side's 29-9 LV= Cup victory over London Wasps at Sandy Park.
The opportunity of starting, as well as the chance to impress the coaching staff sufficiently enough to earn himself a possible contract for next season, is something Mieres is clearly keen to make the most of.
"I'd like to stay next season," he said.
"I have not signed anything with any clubs. This is a great club, I like their philosophy, the way they train, the way they think and the way the guys are. I think I have improved my rugby, it has added a lot to my game coming to play for Exeter. It's been a really good experience and I've really enjoyed my time here."
Form: The two clubs only previous competitive meeting was in round nine at Sandy Park where the home side won 24-19. Sale Sharks have won two of their last four matches in all competitions. The Sharks have won their last two games at Edgeley Park against Leeds and Gloucester. Exeter Chiefs have lost their last four encounters, and have won just once away from home since October: 23-13 at Newcastle on 18 February.
The teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Nick Macleod, 14 Paul Williams, 13 Chris Bell, 12 Andy Tuilagi, 11 Will Addison, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Sisa Koyamaibole 7 Carl Fearns, 6 James Gaskell, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Wame Lewaravu, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Neil Briggs, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Lee Imiolek, 18 Eifion Lewis Roberts, 19 Chris Jones, 20 Neil McMillan, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Rob Miller, 23 Kyle Tonetti
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Matt Jess, 13 Phil Dollman, 12 Sireli Naqelevuki, 11 Nic Sestaret, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Haydn Thomas, 8 Richard Baxter, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 James Hanks, 4 Tom Hayes (c), 3 Hoani Tui, 2 Neil Clark, 1 Brett Sturgess.
Replacements: 16 Chris Whitehead, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Chris Budgen, 19 Chad Slade, 20 James Phillips, 21 Junior Poluleuligaga, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Bryan Rennie.
Date: Friday, April 22
Venue: Edgeley Park
Kick-off: 15.00 BST
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (IRFU)
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