Welsh international Nicky Robinson believes the absence of England duo Ben Youngs and Toby Flood could prove crucial when his Gloucester side lock horns with the champions in the late kick-off today.
“The fact that they have their first choice nine and ten missing will definitely have a bearing on their game,” he said.
“Their team will be weakened but this is Leicester and they always have class players to step into the void.”
The match against Leicester will also see Gloucester line-up against former Shed favourite Anthony Allen and Robinson is looking forward to the encounter.
“A lot of the boys know Anthony Allen from his time here. He is great in defence and good in attack so he will be someone we will have to watch,” he added.
Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill admits that his squads strength will be tested against the in-form west-country side.
“We will lose probably five players against Gloucester and next weekend we will not have our Italians or Argentineans,” said Cockerill, who completed the short-term signing of experienced scrum-half Jason Spice on Friday.
“The squad is a lot thinner than when we had our injury crisis but we will have to battle through.”
Elsewhere, Northampton face Newcastle and the Saints will be without a host of England players.
Ben Foden, Chris Ashton and Dylan Hartley will all sit out the game due to England commitments and Shane Geraghty finds himself named on the bench.
But director of rugby Jim Mallinder said that the good representation of Saints players in the England side is indicative of his side’s progress.
Mallinder said: “We want our players to have ambitions to represent their country and it is a fact of life that if you are successful there are times of the season when you have to do without some of your players.
“But we believe that our squad has the depth we need to stay at the top end of the league table.”
The other fixture on Saturday sees Saracens take on Exeter at Vicarage Road. Saracens will be hoping to build on their good form this season and apart from England’s David Strettle are not affected by the autumn internationals.
