AFTER three appearances from the bench, Jonny Wilkinson looks certain to make his first start for Newcastle Falcons on Sunday since recovering from his bicep injury.

The Falcons are also hoping that the England captain's showdown with his deputy in the national team, Charlie Hodgson, will attract a capacity crowd for the visit of Sale.

There is also the extra attraction of the Sharks being captained by Jason Robinson, who led England in Wilkinson's absence during the Autumn internationals.

Injuries to Matt Burke and Epi Taione forced Wilkinson to go on after 20 minutes in Monday's 15-11 win at Leeds and Director of Rugby Rob Andrew said: "Jonny got a bit more time on the pitch than we had planned, but it has been ideal for him.

"There was no doubt he was ready to start at Leeds, and he'll be ready for the Sale match. But we'll have to see how the injuries settle down before we name a side."

Andrew is naturally keen to keep Dave Walder involved as he will be needed during the Six Nations Championship.

He could play at full back if Burke isn't fit.

Wilkinson's presence on Monday, when he signed autographs for an hour after the game, helped to double Leeds' record crowd to more than 14,000.

But Andrew felt the Headingley pitch was partly to blame for the crowd not being treated to an exciting spectacle.

"The surface was just sand and players couldn't move properly on it to get any pace into the game," he said.

"There had been a Rugby League match on it the previous day and the surface allowed Leeds to stay with us from a pace point of view.

"They were really tough and we could not quite break them down, but we got within a whisker on half a dozen occasions.

"Coming away with a win on the road in the Premiership is very difficult and Leeds are not a bad side. It's a really good sign that we are winning these tight games.

"We seem to be filling everyone else's grounds wherever we go, so hopefully we will have a capacity crowd on Sunday."

Anyone interested in seeing the match against Sale can ring the ticket hotline on 0871 226 60 60.

* Bath are hoping inside centre Olly Barkley can recover from the back spasms which kept him out of yesterday's defeat at Sale in time to return against Saracens at the Rec on New Year's Day.

The England international was an 11th hour withdrawal from the 19-10 reverse at Edgeley Park after hurting his back in kicking practice on Boxing Day.

''We gave Barkley until the very last minute but, in the end, we had to take the decision to pull him out because he was still suffering from spasms in his back,'' head coach John Connolly said.

''Losing him so late before the kick-off was a blow because he's an important figure in the team, but young Ryan Davis came into the side at short notice and performed very well for the second time in just over a week.''