Newport Gwent Dragons coach Mike Ruddock has been forced to delay selection of the team to face Leicester in their crucial Heineken Cup clash at Rodney Parade on Saturday.

Lock Ian Gough (ribs) and number eight Ross Beattie (hamstring) are doubtful while wing Gerald Arasa (toe) is out and will be replaced by Nathan Brew, so Ruddock will wait until Friday for fitness reports on the injured trio before announcing his side.

Ruddock has named 20 players from whom the side will be chosen, with replacements to be decided later.

Leicester are also hit by injuries, though England back row forward Martin Corry is set to return after a hamstring injury when the side is also announced tomorrow.

Former England captain Martin Johnson and fellow World Cup heroes Neil Back and Ben Kay are set to play, but Julian White, Lewis Moody, Ollie Smith and Darryl Gibson are either out or doubtful.

"If Ian and Ross are out we have other options like moving Michael Owen up and bringing in Shawn van Rensberg or Rhys Oakley," said Ruddock.

Fit again and pressing for a place is outside half Craig Warlow who, with half back partner Rhodri Jones, played for Caerphilly last Saturday.

Ruddock accepts Leicester will be coming to Rodney Parade chasing the elusive away win that could put them into the quarter-finals.

"We know about Leicester, but we can't worry about them, we've got to get our tactics right," he said.

"The attitude has got to be right in front of a big crowd which will be awesome and a big lift for the team.

"It would be nice to win every game, but we're a young side with a few changes in personnel and we've got to target our home games."

Around 6,000 tickets have been sold for the match, including members, with Leicester set to bring a big contingent as well.

The Dragons can still get to the last eight themselves if they beat Leicester and then win in Belfast against Ulster a week tomorrow.

Newport Gwent Dragons (from) P Montgomery, N Brew, H Luscombe, A Marinos, S Winn, B Breeze, L Jarvis, C Warlow, G Baber, R Jones, R Snow, A Black, S Jones, P Young, C Anthony, I Gough, P Sidoli, M Owen, J Forster, J Ringer. Kick-off 5pm.