LV= test for Gloucester squad strength

Nobody will be surprised by the fact that Gloucester coach Bryan Redpath makes changes for Thursday night’s LV= Cup game  in Wales against Newport Gwent Dragons - it's become a tradition for the competition to feature matches in which clubs use the opportunity to assess their squad strength and to allow regular senior players to rest injuries.

And Redpath has certainly entered into the spirit of things with a whole host of switches and experiments in his line-up for the game.
Whether they will backfire on him remains to be seen, but the young bloods in the team should certainly be keen to take their chance.
Matt Cox gets his first senior game for the club in the back row, while scrum-half Jordi Pasqualin and Dan Williams, recalled from his loan t London Welsh so he can play in this game, in the second row are given their first games of the season.
Pasqualin is one of four backs aged 21 or under, though there is experience there in the form of last weekend’s late match-winner Lesley Vainikolo, Olly Morgan and Tom Voyce.
Peter Buxton is captain as he returns to his old club, and with him in the pack there is again a mixture of youth and experience.
Redpath told the club website: "The pressure to perform away is huge, whatever the competition and whatever the personnel.
"The LV= Cup last year was big for us, and we lost out in a final. When you get big days and finals like that, you want to repeat them - and that challenge starts again for us here.
"You've got to keep the momentum going, a lot of the young kids have stepped up and have done themselves proud, but we've got some injuries so it's more a case of who is fit and available, rather than a choice of who to rest."
"We've got to think of what we need to do to win away matches, and we can't just expect what happened last week to materialise again without a huge effort on our part."
Dragons are hardly setting the Magners League alight, but playing away to a Welsh club is never easy, no matter what the competition, and the game will be a proper test for Glaws.
After the match, Redpath will hopefully have a much clearer picture of how strong his squad is.