Blues name strong side to face Saints

Piers O'Conor starts for Bedford this evening

Bedford Blues have named a 25 man squad as they prepare to face near neighbours Northampton Saints under the lights at Goldington Road this evening.

Following the demise of London Welsh, a gap in the Blues fixture list appeared but the void was soon filled by Jim Mallinder’s side who are still pushing hard for a play-off spot in the Aviva Premiership.

The Saints last visited Goldington Road for a pre-season friendly in August 2013 when the visitors ran out 45-21 winners.

This Friday’s encounter - which kicks off at 7.45pm - will be the perfect start to the weekend at Goldington Road which also includes the annual beer festival along with all the final Six Nations matches on the Saturday.

Starting line-up:

15. Howard Packman

14. Pat Tapley

13. Piers O’Conor

12. Michael LeBourgeois ©

11. Dean Adamson

10. Jake Sharp

9. Tom James

1. Camilo Parilli-Ocampo

2. Jacob Fields

3. Christian Judge

4. Mike Howard

5. Jordan Onojaife

6. Ed Taylor

7. Josh Buggea

8. Jason Hill

Replacements:

16. Charlie Robinson

17. James Hallam

18. Ben Cooper

19. Byron Hodge

20. Paul Tupai

21. Ben Adams

22. Jordan Burns

23. Dan Lewis

24. Ollie Dodge

25. Elliot Clements-Hill