Injuries force Bates to keep cards close to chest

Bates will wait to assess the injury count and a number of selection issues for the European Challenge Cup encounter, as Newcastle look to record successive home victories following last weekend's triumph over Gloucester.

"It was a tough game and it took a lot out of the boys, but we've managed the work load during this week to get the energy back in their legs and everyone is pretty buoyant in training," said Bates, in reference to Sunday's 10-7 victory over the high-flying Cherry and Whites.

Having beaten Brive at Kingston Park in each of the past three seasons, and never having lost at home to French opposition in any European competition, he added: "The Challenge Cup has always been something we have taken seriously as a club.

"With the way the pool has worked out this year, it looks like the winner on Saturday is pretty much guaranteed to top the group. It is a route in to the Heineken Cup, probably our most likely route in all fairness, and there's no reason why we shouldn't be ambitious in trying to win the competition.

"The first hurdle is to beat Brive this weekend, a very good side who have shown up well in climbing to sixth in the French league. We know what they're all about, they have good players right across the park and, in Andy Goode, an exceptional fly half capable of playing a punishing territorial game. He is a very intelligent footballer who had a massive impact on the game over in Brive when we played them earlier this season, so if he does play we know we have to watch out for him, amongst others.

"If we assume that they are coming over here with a weakened team, then we do so at our peril. They didn't have the best of starts in the Top 14, but their recent form has been outstanding and they've climbed right up in to the mix for the semi-finals. They had a good win over Toulon last weekend, and they will be looking to maintain that momentum.

"Brive tend to kick the ball downfield quite a lot and then try to outmuscle teams in the forward exchanges, so we're expecting a bit of that. They're a very robust team in the physical sense, but they also have some boys who can play, so it should be a good contest.

"Over in Brive we made a couple of really poor errors which ultimately decided the outcome, such as the sin-binning in the second half when there was only one score in it and we looked to be gaining a bit of confidence. I would expect this to be a similarly tough battle which could be decided on a couple of mistakes, so we know we have to be precise in our execution and discipline.

"We need to have the same sort of intent that we had last Sunday, and hope that the weather conditions are a bit better so we can get through our plays more and push the ball around through the hands."