The Ospreys team to face Newport Gwent Dragons in the Magners League on Thursday 30th April 2009 at Liberty Stadium, kick off at 7.05pm, has been announced.
Ospreys Head Coach Sean Holley commented: "Although we have to accept that it is now unlikely that we will be able to overcome Munster at the top of the table, there is still a lot to play for in these final three games, as individuals and as a team. We have two home games remaining, starting on Thursday evening and we owe it to our supporters to go out on a high so we will be giving it everything to try and give them the performances that they expect.
We still want to finish as high in the table as we can, and if we can't finish top then we want to finish second, while we also want to be the highest placed Welsh region. If we are to achieve this we know that we need to improve in certain areas and although the turnaround from Saturday's game is tight, we have worked on the parts of our game where we let ourselves down against Edinburgh."
The following players were not considered because of injury:
Jamie Nutbrown has failed to recover from a shoulder injury picked up in Munster two weeks ago, but we remain hopeful that he will be available for the last two games of the season
Sonny Parker has failed to recover from a calf injury sustained against the Scarlets last weekend, and although he misses this game, he is expected to make the Glasgow match next month
Gavin Henson has suffered damage to the ligaments on both the lateral and medial sides of his right ankle. It is not anticipated that he will be available for selection prior to the final weekend of the season
Rhodri Wells picked up a shoulder injury playing for Swansea recently but should be available for selection in the next two weeks
Jonathan Thomas has commenced a period of relative rest following specialist consultation in orderto facilitate full resolution of his recurring groin problem and permit a problem free return totraining and playing
Ben Lewis and Ian Evans are both recovering from ACL reconstructive surgery. Both players are achieving their targets and remain on course to be fully fit and available for the start of next season
Nikki Walker is also doing well following surgery to repair his left hamstring origin, and although he won't feature again this season is expected be fit for the start of pre season training
Lyndon Bateman is still in the early stages of his recovery following knee surgery and will return next season
Kristian Phillips is recovering from surgery to repair the damage sustained following the shoulder dislocation he suffered against Leinster. He will require a 5-6 month recovery and rehabilitation process and will be targeting a return for the start of next season
Ospreys team to face Dragons: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 James Hook, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips 1 Duncan Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Filipo Levi, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 6 Tom Smith, 7 Marty Holah, 8 Ryan Jones (Capt)
Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington, 17 Paul James, 18 Ian Gough, 19 Filo Tiatia, 20 Tavis Knoyle, 21 Jonathan Spratt, 22 Gareth Owen
Tavis Knoyle will make his Ospreys debut if he comes off the bench.