NEWCASTLE Falcons are determined to take good care of Jonny Wilkinson following his recovery from his latest injury.

With outdoor training impossible because of snow yesterday, a decision on whether he plays any part in tomorrow's home Guinness Premiership game against Worcester was delayed.

Wilkinson will have a fitness test tomorrow morning and if both he and the medical staff are convinced he's 100 per cent fit he will probably be on the bench.

Dave Walder will start at fly half and both he and full back Matt Burke have kicked the Falcons to important wins during Wilkinson's seven-week absence.

The World Cup hero has admitted that the groin problem which led to his latest operation was probably aggravated by the countless hours of kicking practice he has put in over the last few years.

That means he will almost certainly have to cut back and Director of Rugby Rob Andrew said: "The groin injury means we need to talk to him about his training.

"But it reminds me a little of the latter stages of the World Cup when people were saying he was too intense and needed to relax and have a few beers.

"To say something like that about Jonny just shows that they don't know him at all or what makes him tick. I think we know him better than anyone and we will have to look at his training and manage him in the way we think is best for him and the club.

"He's pretty comfortable physically, but due to us playing on Tuesday and training only indoors since he has not been able to train with the team in a proper rugby session."

If Wilkinson is on the bench it will be at the expense of Toby Flood, who has lost his place in the starting line-up to Walder.

Geoff Parling comes in for Scotland lock Stuart Grimes and Ben Woods is at open side in place of Cory Harris.

"We have freshened up the pack by bringing in two young forwards," said Andrew. "They have both made excellent progress this season.

"The forwards worked extremely hard against big opponents at Leeds on Tuesday and for the second successive Premiership game they were outstanding, which is a great credit to Peter Walton's work.

"We just feel we need some fresh legs and we can still bring on the likes of Mike McCarthy and Stuart Grimes so we have a lot of energy throughout the 80 minutes."

The Falcons were unbeaten in five matches in December and Andrew added: "We have worked really hard in the last month and turned narrow losses into narrow wins. Now we need to turn those into more comfortable wins so I'm not on the edge of my seat, which is where I've been since September 2. The players' confidence has been reasonably good all season. If you don't believe in yourself and your teammates you are not prepared to put your body on the line for them. The performances against Wasps and Leeds showed the players are committed to each other and to this club.

"Worcester will provide another massive test up front and they will come here expecting to win, like they did last season. They have been ill-disciplined and they get on the wrong side of referees.

"They slow the ball down and give penalties away, but they are very hard-working and they fight for everything. We have to be right on our game to stand a chance."

The indications are the game will be very close to a 10,200 sell-out.