GLOUCESTER face the long trip north for Friday night's Aviva Premiership Rugby fixture away at Newcastle Falcons, and make four changes to their starting line-up.

The Cherry and Whites travel to Kingston Park on the back of three successive Premiership wins, but will be up against an opponent who have lost only one of their last seven games at Kingston Park in all tournaments.

Three of the changes are in the pack as Gloucester shuffle their resources – James Hanson, Jeremy Thrush and Jake Polledri coming in for Richard Hibbard, Ed Slater and Freddie Clarke respectively.

The final change to the starting line-up sees Henry Purdy replace Henry Trinder on the wing, the latter picking up a knock in training this week.

Head Coach Johan Ackermann told the local media this week that last weekend's win over Saracens was a positive step forward for the group but that the trip to Newcastle will create just as tough a challenge.

"It was a good moment, a moment that we have to treasure and enjoy. But, saying that, everything started back to normal on Monday. There's a massive challenge ahead of us on Friday and one game isn't going to mean a lot if we don't back it up.

"A good result always builds confidence, but it wasn't a perfect game. We showed a lot of heart in a great defensive effort in that first half, and then some better play in the second half. So, there are definitely things to take forward but stuff we have to improve as well.

"We've put certain things in place to get over the travel, it is a fair distance on the bus. But the team have shown they can perform at a good level and it's for us to control what we can control – our standards and how we want to play.

"It will be quite a disappointment if we pitch up there and don't perform to our standards. But we have to respect that Newcastle aren't a bad team. You can't look at the result from last weekend and think you're going to arrive and get a victory.”

Gloucester Rugby: 15. Tom Hudson; 14. Henry Purdy, 13. Andy Symons, 12. Billy Twelvetrees, 11. Ollie Thorley; 10. Billy Burns, 9. Willi Heinz (capt); 1. Josh Hohneck, 2. James Hanson, 3. John Afoa; 4. Tom Savage, 5. Jeremy Thrush; 6. Jake Polledri, 7. Lewis Ludlow, 8. Ruan Ackermann

Replacements: 16. Richard Hibbard, 17. Paddy McAllister, 18. Gareth Denman, 19. Ed Slater, 20. Freddie Clarke, 21. Ben Vellacott, 22. Lloyd Evans, 23. Mark Atkinson

Unavailable for selection: Fraser Balmain, Tom Denton, Mariano Galarza, David Halaifonua, Tom Marshall, Motu Matu'u, Ben Morgan, Ross Moriarty, Val Rapava Ruskin, Jacob Rowan, Charlie Sharples, Henry Trinder, Owen Williams, Jason Woodward