England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie is set to make his Sale Sharks debut in his first match for 10 months.
Cowan-Dickie, 30, has been named on the replacements bench for Sale’s match away to Bristol Bears on Saturday.
He last played in January before he suffered an ankle injury and then underwent neck surgery.
The ex-Exeter Chiefs player was set to join French club Montpellier after the World Cup, but that move fell through and Sale signed him in July.
If he had joined the Top 14 club, Cowan-Dickie would have been ineligible to add to his 38 England caps.
However, the neck surgery ruled him out of moving to France and also ruled him out of contention for making Steve Borthwick’s squad for the World Cup.
With Exeter, Cornwall-born Cowan-Dickie won both the Premiership and the Champions Cup, while he also played all three Tests for the British and Irish Lions against South Africa in 2021.
At Ashton Gate, he will begin on the bench as veteran Argentina hooker Agustin Creevy starts for the Sharks.
