Leicester welcome back internationals Alesana Tuilagi and Martin Castrogiovanni for Sunday's crunch Heineken Cup tie away to Clermont.
Last season's runners-up face back-to-back battles with the French side, playing away this week and then the return exchange back at Welford Road next Saturday.
Tuilagi returns for Leicester after injury following his return to the bench for last weekend's Premiership match at Wasps.
Prop Castrogiovanni sat out that game after international duty with Italy, but he is back for the Pool Three encounter.
Boris Stankovich joins Castrogiovanni and Mefin Davies in the front row as he too makes his return from injury, while Craig Newby plays at six and James Grindal starts at scrum-half.
In the backs, Geordan Murphy, Richard Blaze, Julian White and Ben Woods are all missing through injury, as are Harry Ellis, Sam Vesty and Billy Twelvetrees, who are on the comeback trail.
Richard Cockerill is banned from the dressing room following his outburst at a referee during a recent Premiership game.
Meanwhile, Clermont have selected their strongest XV possible for the hugely-anticipated fixture at Stade Marcel Michelin.
An extremely strong back-line selection includes Aurelien Rougerie and Morgan Parra with wings Julien Malzieu and Napolioni Nalaga complimenting captain Anthony Floch, who will lead from full-back.
Elsewhere and the front-row line-up of Martin Scelzo, Mario Ledesma and Thomas Domingo looks equally impressive for what should be a physical affair.
The teams:
Clermont Auvergne: 15 Anthony Floch (capt), 14 Julien Malzieu, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Brock James, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Alexandre Lapadry, 6 Jason White, 5 Thibaut Privat, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Martin Scelzo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Lionel Faure, 18 Davit Zirakishvili, 19 Julien Pierre, 20 Elvis Vermeulen, 21 Kevin Senio, 22 Tasesa Lavea, 23 Gavin Williams.
Leicester: 15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Lore Tuqiri, 13 Anthony Allen, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Toby Flood, 9 James Grindal, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Craig Newby, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Louis Deacon (capt), 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Boris Stankovich.
Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Ben Kay, 20 Brett Deacon, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Jeremy Staunton, 23 Johne Murphy.
Date: Sunday, December 13
Kick-off: 16:00 (15:00 GMT)
Venue: Stade Marcel Michelin
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Simon McDowell (Ireland), Jude Quinn (Ireland)
Television match official: Brian Fitzgerald (Ireland)
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