England second-row Ollie Chessum is set to make his return from injury on Friday after being named in Leicester Tigers’ squad to face Gloucester in the Slater Cup.

The British and Irish Lion’s return is a huge boost and he will make his comeback via the replacements bench where he is joined by England team-mate Jack van Poortvliet.

Elsewhere, Australia centre Izaia Perese returns at Mattioli Woods Welford Road as the only change to the starting line-up from last week’s away fixture against Leinster.

Joining Chessum and Van Poortvliet on the bench is England A prop Tarek Haffar and hooker Charlie Clare, with Van Poortvliet set to make his 100th match for Leicester.

Tigers’ starting scrum-half, Tom Whiteley, is poised to make his 50th senior appearance and will partner Billy Searle in the half-backs, with Solomone Kata alongside Perese.

Freddie Steward starts at full-back and Adam Radwan and Ollie Hassell-Collins once again get the wing shirts, with the pair having crossed against Leinster last time out.

Up front and it is as you were for the Leicester front-row as prop duo Nicky Smith and Joe Heyes run out alongside hooker Jamie Blamire against the Cherry and Whites.

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Openside flanker Tommy Reffell captains the side and is joined in the back-row by James Thompson (blindside) and number eight Joaquin Moro as the PREM action returns.

Meanwhile, All Blacks tighthead prop Nepo Laulala returns from his suspension in the Gloucester front-row, joining Val Rapava Ruskin and Seb Blake at the coalface on Friday.

Freddie Thomas will pack down with vice captain Arthur Clark as the locks, with Josh Basham, Lewis Ludlow and Jack Clement completing the forwards in the back-row.

After recently confirming he will depart at the end of the season, Tomos Williams starts alongside Ross Byrne, with Seb Atkinson and Will Butler the centre combination.

Ollie Thorley, Rob Russell and Charlie Atkinson round out the starting XV.

On the bench, Jack Innard, Jamal Ford-Robinson and Afo Fasogbon cover the front-row, with Cam Jordan and Harry Taylor also in reserve for the loose forwards.

Mikey Austin, Will Knight and Josh Hathaway are also included as replacements.

The teams

Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Izaia Perese, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Tom Whiteley, 8 Joaquin Moro, 7 Tommy Reffell (c), 6 James Thompson, 5 Harry Wells, 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Sam Williams, 21 Jack van Poortvliet, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Joseph Woodward

Gloucester: 15 Charlie Atkinson, 14 Rob Russell, 13 Will Butler, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Tomos Williams (c), 8 Jack Clement, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Josh Basham, 5 Arthur Clark, 4 Freddie Thomas, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 18 Afo Fasogbon, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Harry Taylor, 21 Mikey Austin, 22 Will Knight, 23 Josh Hathaway

Date: Friday, December 19
Venue: Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant Referees: Ian Tempest & Neil Chivers
TMO: Andrew Jackson

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