Preview: Ospreys v Glasgow

The Ospreys will be without several first-team international regulars for their hosting of Glasgow at Liberty Stadium on Friday.

The Ospreys will be without several first-team regulars for their Magners League hosting of Glasgow at Liberty Stadium on Friday.

Sean Holley's charges are heavily depleted due to international call-ups, with Ryan Jones, James Hook, Shane Williams and Alun-Wyn Jones just some of the names missing after being required by Warren Gatland.

There is a debut for both scrum-half Liam Davies and loosehead Ryan Bevington while Nicky Thomas, James King and Ross Davies must wait for their bow from the replacements bench.

“We are up against a good side on Friday night,” said Director of Coaching, Scott Johnson.

“Glasgow have had a good start to the season with some excellent results under their belt.

“I've absolutely no doubt that they will come to the Liberty Stadium looking to make life difficult for us and thinking that they can get something from the game.

“The challenge for us is to make sure they don't.”

Meanwhile, Glasgow have named an unchanged starting line-up for the trip south.

There is one alteration to the travelling party from last Friday's 34-20 win over Connacht, with hooker Fergus Thomson taking a place on bench after recovering from a series of injuries.

Head Coach Sean Lineen, who has had a raft of injuries and illnesses to contend with in recent weeks, said the troubles have united his men.

“The squad's got even tighter because of what's been happening off the field with illness and injuries,” he said.

“The last few weeks we've been able to get more bodies into training which has made a big difference.

“Consistency isn't two games. Consistency is five or six games, but even just to have the same team for another game allows us to become a little bit more familiar.

“The guys are now getting the chance to work with each other a bit more like Chris Cusiter and Dan Parks – the key combinations that you need to work well. It's all about familiarity.

“Having that stability is good but there's no doubt that this game against the Ospreys is a huge challenge. It's an altogether different challenge to Connacht.

“It's the only Welsh province that we haven't won away against and we'd like to change that.”

Form: Ospreys have won their last three encounters against Glasgow, whilst the Warriors have never tasted victory in six previous fixtures on Ospreys soil. Ospreys 12-20 reversal at the hands of Cardiff Blues on Saturday ended a four game unbeaten run in all competitions. The Welshmen have won their last three games against opponents from Scotland. Glasgow Warriors have won back to back matches in the Magners League and also were victorious on their last visit to Wales in the League: 21-5 against Cardiff Blues at the City Stadium on 3 October.

The teams:

Ospreys: 15 Barry Davies, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 Gareth Owen, 9 Liam Davies, 8 Tom Smith, 7 Marty Holah, 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Filo Tiatia, 4 Ian Gough (capt), 3 Cai Griffiths, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington, 17 Ross Davies, 18 James King, 19 Steve Tandy, 20 Rhodri Wells, 21 Jonathan Spratt, 22 Nicky Thomas.

Glasgow: 15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Colin Shaw, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Thom Evans, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Al Kellock (c), 4 Richie Gray, 3 Moray Low, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Jon Welsh.
Replacements: 16 Fergus Thomson, 17 Kevin Tkachuk, 18 Dan Turner, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Mark McMillan, 21 Colin Gregor, 22 Hefin O'Hare.

Date: Friday, October 30
Kick-off: 19:05 GMT
Venue: Liberty Stadium
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Tim Hayes (WRU), Wayne Davies (WRU)
TMO: Nigel Whitehouse (WRU)