England centre Jamie Noon misses out after receiving a bang to the head in last weekend's Six Nations encounter with Ireland, while Mathew Tait is still away with the England Sevens squad following his Commonwealth Games heroics.

Prop David Wilson is absent with the broken jaw he picked up on England U21s duty last Friday, with Aussie full-back Matthew Burke again captaining the side.

In addition to Noon and Wilson, injuries have also deprived the Falcons of the services of Lee Dickson (knee), Phil Dowson (neck), Jonny Wilkinson (adductor), Mark Wilkinson (shoulder), James Hoyle (shoulder) and Sean Tomes (ankle).

Explaining the team selection in the lead-up to the game, forwards coach Peter Walton said: "Over the years we've learnt that players coming back from internationals take a while to get back to their best with their clubs.

"They're used to different calls, the test matches are draining and they just don't settle straightaway. We threw both Jamie Noon and Colin Charvis in against Gloucester last month, mainly due to injuries, and it was pretty obvious they weren't fully ready to be at their best because they'd just come back from big internationals the weekend before.

"Noony still hasn't passed his Cogsport test after getting a bang to the head against Ireland. There was a chance he may have passed that test before Sunday, but we've told him and Colin to rest and I'm sure they'll be back firing on all cylinders for what is a massive game against Connacht next Friday.

"The fact that the lads in their positions are playing well makes the decision a lot easier and, at No 8 for example, I have no qualms whatsoever about starting Andy Buist because he's stepped up and played really well there this season.

"I've always known he was an exceptional player because I've been with him through the academy process, and he also gives us another line out option which could be important. You need balance in a back row, and if we bring Charv back at No 8 next week we may offset that by putting a line out jumper at No 6 to give us the all-round game, we'll have to see."

For Walton and another trio of Falcons there is added spice to Sunday's game as they come up against their former club, with the former Scotland international stating: "It's always nice to come up against your old team, and there are a few Northampton old boys here such as myself, John Fletcher, Robbie Morris and Joe Shaw, so all four of us will be desperate to get one over on them."

Despite running in to a streak of form over the winter, a narrow defeat at Bath prevented Newcastle from pushing their claims further in their last outing a fortnight ago.

"We needed the result at Bath, and it was disappointing not to get the win because we thought we merited it, but we didn't finish the job off and will be working to be more ruthless when we do create scoring opportunities," said Walton.

"We played a much more open game at Bath, and hopefully this weekend again we can try to give a bit more entertainment to our home fans. Northampton also like to get the ball wide, so I'm sure it will be a good game to watch."

Assessing the credentials of Sunday's opponents, he said: "Saints are now the form side in the Premiership. That was us a couple of weeks ago, but we have to get the show back on the road and that's what I'm demanding of the players.

"Their back three are outstanding and would get in to most international sides, but they also have more to their game such as a good centre pairing, a tough scrum-half and a pack of forwards which is often underestimated but is actually a good unit these days.

"Our home form has been disappointing this season, and on Sunday we want to really plant our flag down on this pitch as a statement of intent."

Newcastle Falcons team to face Northampton:

15 Matthew Burke (captain)
14 Anthony Elliott
13 Tom May
12 Toby Flood
11 Ollie Phillips
10 Dave Walder
9 James Grindal
1 Micky Ward
2 Andy Long
3 Robbie Morris
4 Andy Perry
5 Geoff Parling
6 Owen Finegan
7 Ben Woods
8 Andy Buist

Replacements:
16 Jonny Williams
17 Matt Thompson
18 Stuart Grimes
19 Mike McCarthy
20 Mark Mayerhofler
21 Hall Charlton
22 Joe Shaw