The Scarlets make four personnel changes to the starting line-up which was victorious at the Arms Park with Aled Davies getting a start at scrum-half; former Osprey Kristian Phillips comes onto the wing, Matthew Rees starts at hooker and Jake Ball comes into the second row alongside George Earle.
The Ospreys host the Scarlets with a strong home record behind them this season having been victorious in their last seven games at Liberty Stadium. The Ospreys have won their last five clashes with fellow Welsh regions.
The West Wales side will be boosted by their strong form on the road with the Scarlets having won five of their six away fixtures this season in the league – their only away loss in the competition this season was 20-22 at Treviso on 29 September.
Scarlets Attack Coach Mark Jones said: “There’s never any need for motivation for coaches or players for this fixture. We may have had less preparation time but the boys have worked hard on their recovery during the four-day turnaround and they know how significant this game is for us on a number of levels.
“It’s going to be a very intense game and a typically physical match. We don’t have to cast our minds back too far to our last encounter with the Ospreys and where in the game we came out second best.
“We know the quality the Ospreys have, they’ll come out strong will be feeling confident after an impressive win over Toulouse in Europe. It’s going to be a high impact and a big battle up front but the players are in the right mindset and we’re looking forward to a great contest.”
Scarlets outside half Aled Thomas said: “We adjusted our game last weekend, the forwards carried well and made the hard yards for us and overall we controlled territory well. We’ll need to step up again for this encounter, the Ospreys have strength across the field but we if can get quick ball to our backs – we know we have the talent do some damage.
“We want to stamp our authority on this game and to keep that place – so there’s plenty riding on this fixture for both sides. Wins on the road are what count in this competition if you want to make the play-off places.”
Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said the derby clash marks the start of a very busy month for his side and it’s crucial the Ospreys perform consistently, putting in top level performances in every single game so that they can push for a top four spot in the PRO12 and the knockouts in Europe.
“This is the type of game that everybody wants to be involved in so training has been full on this week, which is great when you are a coach,” he said.
“We’ve got three big games in nine days so the challenge for us is to make sure the team is properly prepared for each one, and that will mean making a few changes along the way to keep people fresh and to give us the best chance of getting the performance levels in that we’ll need if we are going to get the result we want from these games.
“After Boxing Day we go to the Dragons and then we play Zebre at the Liberty on 4th January in another crucial home game and we know that we have to be at our very best for each game if we want to move into the top four and stay there.
“With the biggest crowd in two years already confirmed for Boxing Day we know that there’s going to be a great atmosphere, which is fantastic. It’ll be pretty special, we’ve got good memories of playing the Scarlets at Christmas at the Liberty and it’s up to these boys to make their own history this week. We know that they’ll come here confident after winning at the Blues last week, they are a very dangerous team so we will have to be at our best if we are going to send our supporters home with the best Christmas present they could ask for.”
