Noon and fellow centre Mark Mayerhofler will undergo late fitness tests to determine their availability, as the Falcons aim for their third successive home win.

Second row Andy Perry misses out with a fractured eye socket picked up on New Year’s Day at Harlequins, while fullback Matthew Burke is unavailable after being concussed in the same game.

Following two home wins over Sale and Montauban the Falcons were derailed at The Stoop on Monday, with director of rugby John Fletcher admitting: “I said last week that we’d turned the corner, but it seems it was more of a roundabout.

“The result at Harlequins was very disappointing, and although the scoreline flattered them a bit there’s no denying they were the better side and deserved the victory. Speaking to Quins after the game they said that’s the best they’ve played all season by some distance, but that’s not an excuse and we have to take it on the chin before moving on to Sunday.”

Examining the reasons for the change in fortunes, Fletcher said: “Some of it is down to personnel, and I probably dabbled too much with the team selection from Boxing Day if I’m brutally honest.

“Losing your captain after less than 15 minutes is never going to help, so we had to reshape a little, but leaving out Ben Woods, Joe McDonnell and Geoff Parling after the way they played against Sale in hindsight wasn’t a wise move. The circumstances around Joe were a little different due to the overseas player situation and wanting to start with Burkey, but to go in without Parling and Woods was a mistake on my part.”

There was injury added to insult with the news that Matt Burke and Andy Perry both sustained injuries on New Year’s Day.

“Andy has an operation on Monday to insert a metal plate in his face after a collision with Russell Winter’s head, so his catwalk days are over and we will see him again in the next two or three months,” said Fletcher.

“Burkey had two nasty collisions, again with our own players. Brent Wilson got him on the forehead and then Tom May cracked him under the eye, so he has a couple of very nasty gashes as well as a concussion which rules him out for this week and maybe next week against Brive.”

Not dwelling on the result, however, he added: “This is virtually the same side which beat Sale on Boxing Day, so I have every confidence in the lads.

“Anthony Elliott started at fullback against Sale and did very well. We’ll have to see what the midfield combination ends up being when we give Jamie Noon and Mark Mayerhofler late fitness tests. We do have contingencies in place if they don’t make it, so we don’t see it as a huge problem.”

Assessing the threat of a potent Leicester side, Fletcher said of the weapons in the Tigers’ armoury: “Their strength in depth is at a different level to almost every side in the league, and they have a huge number of internationals in their squad.

“They are at a different stage in their development to us at the moment, and that is where we aspire to be so it will be a good test at the weekend. We beat them at home and drew away last season, and having beaten a lot of the top sides already this season we don’t go in with any fear.”

In the week that Leicester skipper Martin Corry was stripped of the England captaincy, Fletcher had nothing but praise for the No.8, stating: “I don’t think Martin has anything to prove at all.

“He’s been an outstanding player for Leicester and England for a very long time. He has umpteen caps, a World Cup medal, countless Premiership titles and has been one of the top forwards in Britain for the past decade. Every time he pulls on a Leicester shirt he is a huge presence, so to say he is something to prove this weekend I don’t think is true.”

Tickets for Sunday’s match are still available by calling 0871 226 60 60, or popping to Kingston Park during office hours and match day.

Newcastle Falcons team:

15 Anthony Elliott
14 Tom May
13 Mathew Tait
12 Jamie Noon
11 John Rudd
10 Toby Flood
9 James Grindal

1 Joe McDonnell (captain)
2 Matt Thompson
3 Micky Ward
4 Mark Sorenson
5 Jason Oakes
6 Geoff Parling
7 Ben Woods
8 Russell Winter

Replacements:

16 Jon Golding
17 Andy Long
18 Andy Buist
19 Brent Wilson
20 Mark Mayerhofler
21 Lee Dickson
22 Loki Crichton