STEVE DIAMOND has recalled Raphael Ibanez, Ben T Russell and Simon Raiwalui to the side for tonight's (Friday) Zurich Premiership clash with injury-hit Leeds Tykes.

Ibanez, the decorated French hooker, makes his first start since of the end of November after getting the nod ahead of Matt Cairns, Russell comes into the back-row to cover for the absence of Dave Seymour, currently away with the England Under-21 squad, while Railwalui will form a meaty second-row partnership with Kris Chesney.

The head coach has resisted the temptation to reach for the big stick this week after last week's hugely disappointing defeat to London Irish, instead stressing the importance of mental preparation.

"There is no point drilling the players in training because I've told them whatever we do in training is irrelevant if we don't go out on the pitch with the right mindset," said the head coach. "What happened at the weekend shouldn't have happened and was unacceptable.

"It's massively important we bounce back. We have a squad of 22 players who are not happy with their performance last week and who are itching to get out there and play on Friday night. When I woke up on Tuesday and saw the snow I was delighted as that's what it's going to be like at Leeds and it means we have been able to train in those type of conditions all week."

Leeds have been hit by an injury crisis this week 17 of their 32-man squad are unavailable through injury or international call-ups and they were forced to sign three players, including two in the front row, this week to ensure the game went ahead. Props Ed Kalman and Tom McGee have joined from Newcastle and Borders respectively while Craig McMullen has been drafted in from Narbonne.

Diamond, though, is not counting his chickens against a side who have won five of the last seven meetings between the two sides.

"Leeds is a very uncomprising place to go and they will be very physical. Like London Irish they will do the basics really well and look to punish the few mistakes we make."