NEWCASTLE Falcons still hope to have Jonny Wilkinson back for the first of three successive home games tomorrow.

After facing Northampton and Harlequins, they tackle Montferrand on January 11 in the first leg of their European Challenge Cup second-round tie.

Wilkinson will be up against World Cup semi-final opponent Olivier Magne in that match, when the open-side flanker will have the task of knocking the fly half out of his stride.

But first the England hero wants to help his Falcons teammates to the two Premiership wins which would put them in contention for a place in the premier European event next season.

They are currently in eighth place, but a five-point maximum tomorrow would narrow the gap on fourth-placed Northampton to three points.

Newcastle have sold over 7,000 tickets for the match and are confident of another 10,000 crowd after reaching the Kingston Park capacity for the first time when Wilkinson paraded the World Cup prior to the defeat by Wasps four weeks ago.

Initially rested after his Sydney heroics, it was then discovered that he had fractured a small bone in his shoulder and this will be his first appearance since the World Cup final.

The injury hasn't stopped him practising his kicking every day, and after joining the lap of honour last Saturday after England's victory against New Zealand Barbarians, he did some kicking at Twickenham the following day.

But he did no contact work until this week and after a full-scale training session yesterday it was decided to see how he feels today before announcing the team.

When he does return Jonny has promised to try to enjoy matches a little more, having clearly taken some notice of accusations that he was too intense during the group stage of the World Cup.

He was so locked into his cocoon of concentration that he could barely move his lips during the national anthem, but by the final he was singing lustily.

Along with several of his teammates, his performances fell below his own very high standards until they arrived at the semi-final.

It seemed that someone in England's 19-strong back-up squad had persuaded Jonny to relax and he has since admitted that in future he will be looking to gain more pleasure out of the actual playing time.

He doesn't simply want to kick goals, he wants to run with the ball and much of his one-to-one training with the Falcons' fitness expert Steve Black in recent weeks has been geared towards that.

Newcastle also expect to have scrum half Hall Charlton back tomorrow after he was also ruled out of last week's defeat at Bath by a shoulder injury.

* Two Barnard Castle School products will team up at half back for the first time as Darlington seconds entertain Durham City today (2.15).

The club are having a look at 20-year-old Rory Wood, who spent part of his gap year playing in New Zealand before going to Loughborough University, where he has featured in the first team.

Darlington could consider him for first-team action if skipper Paul Lee fails to recover from injury before next Saturday's match at Tynedale. Wood will be partnered by former club captain David Andrew, who is continuing to build his match fitness after opting out of the early part of the season prior to a trip to the World Cup.