Club captain Stuart Hooper is delighted to be returning to the Bath starting line-up for today’s LV= Cup game against Northampton at the Recreation Ground.

Hooper comes back to partner Ryan Caldwell in the second row, with Ben Skirving, Francois Louw and Simon Taylor combining in the back row. Ross Batty starts at hooker, with David Flatman and Anthony Perenise packing down either side of him in the front row.

Hooper returns after being sidelined since last month with a wrist fracture and said: “I have missed playing, it’s been a bit of a nightmare and I’m probably the worst watcher of rugby there is, so I’ve not been a great person to be around.

“But it’s been great to get training this week and back out amongst the lads and I can’t wait to get playing again.

“After the win against Glasgow it just makes it that bit easier to work on the things we’ve not been doing so well.

“We want to go well in the LV= Cup and get through to the semi-finals and then go on and win it.

“Northampton have a great squad and whoever plays for them is going to be a good player.

“The LV= Cup especially at this stage is a big competition and everyone wants to win it. We’ll be looking at what we do well and working on what we’ve done in training and whoever Northampton bring hopefully we will have enough to win the game.

Hooper also praised the Bath supporters for their continued backing.

He added: “The Rec’s a great place and it’s great to have the support behind us. They have been coming every week when things have not been going so well so we are desperate to put in a performance for them.”

Michael Claassens partners Stephen Donald in the half-backs once more, with Tom Biggs and Olly Woodburn taking their places on the wings. Olly Barkley and Sam Vesty form a new centre pairing, and Nick Abendanon completes the line-up at full-back.

Both sides sit at the top of their pools going into the game, with maximum points being taken in their respective first two fixtures, and will be determined to get one step closer to securing a semi-final place this afternoon.

Director of Rugby, Sir Ian McGeechan said: “We’re looking forward to what we know will be a tough challenge for us, against a strong Northampton Saints squad.”

Bath’s work at scrum time attracted plenty of criticism in the early months of the campaign but there has been a marked improvement of late – most noticeably in the New Year’s Day destruction of London Irish at the Rec.

Prop Flatman admitted the pack’s upturn in form since the autumn boiled down to something very simple – the players doing as they are told.

He said: “It started getting better away to Glasgow.

“There wasn’t really one watershed moment. One of the toughest things to do is listen to your coach and do that on the field. It sounds obvious but when you are under massive physical pressure you tend to switch to natural habits.

“Things have to be technically right. We were working individually – not intentionally – and Ian Peel, one of the RFU scrum coaches, and Graham Rowntree came down and said ‘watch yourselves here lads’. It is so obvious when you see it but until somebody points it out you can’t – that’s why you have coaches.

“They said exactly what Martin Haag had been telling us, so we really listened to what he was saying and actively, during scrums, talked about implementing what he told us to do. It doesn’t work every time but we are trying to do as we’re told a bit more.

“Northampton are on a different level, though, their scrummaging is just superb. No-one dominates every week but when Northampton get it right, they are very, very good.”

Bath v Northampton Saints, today, 2.30pm: Nick Abendanon; Olly Woodburn, Sam Vesty, Olly Barkley, Tom Biggs, Stephen Donald, Michael Claassens; David Flatman, Ross Batty, Anthony Perenise, Stuart Hooper (capt.), Ryan Caldwell, Ben Skirving, Francois Louw, Simon Taylor. Replacements: Lee Mears, Charlie Beech, Duncan Bell, . Will Spencer, Guy Mercer, Chris Cook, Tom Heathcote, Nick Scott.

Northampton: Paul Diggin; Jamie Elliott, Scott Armstrong, Greig Tonks, Vasily Artemyev; Stephen Myler, Martin Roberts; Alex Waller, Brett Sharman, Tom Mercey, Mark Sorenson, Christian Day, James Craig, Ben Nutley, Samu Manoa. Replacements: Andy Long, Soane Tonga’uiha, Brian Mujati, James Ingle, Roger Wilson, Ryan Glynn, Tom May, Noah Cato.