Exeter Chiefs welcome back skipper Jack Yeandle for their Premiership trip to Newcastle Falcons tomorrow night (7.45pm).

He takes his place at hooker in place of Jack Innard, and is one of three changes to the side that beat London Irish at Sandy Park last time out.

Christ Tshiunza is back from Wales international duty to start at openside, flanker, while in the back division, Ian Whitten will run out for his 200th Premiership appearance for the club in the centre, replacing Rory O’Loughlin, who is out with a groin problem.

On the bench, Tongan international Solomone Kata returns after featuring in recent autumn clashes against Spain, Chile and Uruguay.

But the Chiefs will still be without their England contingent of Henry Slade, Jack Nowell, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Sam Simmonds, and also their Scotland duo Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray.

Exeter ended a three-game losing streak by beating Irish 22-17, while Newcastle picked up an excellent 27-21 win at Gloucester in their last league fixture, and Chiefs’ director of rugby Rob Baxter has challenged his side to meet the threat of the Falcons ‘head on’.

“Whenever you go there, it’s always a tough test,” said Baxter. “Last season was close up there, I think we won with a penalty late on, and they beat us down here.

“We had a young side out that day – and we missed lots of opportunities to score – but equally they stuck in there and they got that win.

“That was a challenging time in the season for us and it’s a challenging time for us now as well. Watching Newcastle in their win against Gloucester, you can see they’ve got a confidence about them and that they are enjoying playing for one another, so it’s a big challenge for us.”

Newcastle welcome back Argentina internationals Mateo Carreras and Matias Moroni, and USA lock Greg Peterson, from their international commitments.

Brett Connon continues at fly-half after kicking five from five in the Kingsholm clash, with Ben Stevenson starting on the right wing. Carl Fearns returns from a knee injury at No.8, with scrum-half Michael Young once again captaining the side.

Sean Robinson and Adam Radwan are among the replacements following their midweek release from England’s training squad, with Matias Orlando also on the bench having played a full 80 minutes for Argentina against Scotland last Saturday.

Newcastle head coach Dave Walder said: “Exeter have big ball-carriers, they’re very physical and they like to play with tempo right from the start.

“They try to put you under pressure when they’ve got the ball in hand, and their backs try to exploit the wide channels off the back of that. It’s a keep-ball style of game, a bit different to how a lot of other Premiership teams play, but it’s a method which has been very successful for them.

“They’re a different team from when we beat them at their place this time last year, they’ve got a new defence coach whose playing style is more aggressive and confrontational, and they’ve gone back to that line-speed which they’d moved away from over the past year or so. They set up slightly differently, but they’re a formidable team and we’re excited about taking them on.”

There will be live commentary on the game on BBC Radio Devon.

Newcastle: E Obatoyinbo, B Stevenson, M Moroni, T Penny, M Carreras, B Connon, M Young (capt); L Mulipola, G McGuigan, R Palframan, G Peterson, S de Chaves, C Chick, G Pepper, C Fearns. Replacements: J Blamire, A Brocklebank, M Tampin, S Robinson, F Lockwood, S Stuart, A Radwan, M Orlando.

Exeter: J Hodge, D John, S O’Brien, I Whitten, O Woodburn, J Simmonds, J Maunder, A Hepburn, J Yeandle (cape), H Williams, R Van Heerden, D Jenkins, L Pearson, C Tshiunza, J Vermeulen. Replacements: D Frost, S Sio, P Schickerling, J Dunne, D Ewers, S Maunder, W Becconsall, S Kata.

Referee: Karl Dickson.