JIMMY Gopperth has revealed Newcastle Falcons will be targeting his opposite number, George Ford, when Leicester Tigers travel to Kingston Park this afternoon.

Today's game pits the bottom two sides in the Aviva Premiership against each other, with Leicester, like Newcastle, having lost both of their opening matches in the absence of almost a full XV of World Cup stars.

Their first-choice fly-half, Toby Flood, will be representing England against Georgia tomorrow morning, so coach Richard Cockerill is forced to turn to 18-year-old Ford.

The England Under-20 international made a series of dangerous attacks in last weekend's defeat to London Wasps, but with today's weather forecast likely to keep free-flowing rugby to a minimum, Gopperth is urging his team-mates to exploit the youngster's lack of defensive experience.

"He has got an eye for a gap," said the New Zealander. "So we have to be on our game to make sure we shut him down and don't leave any holes.

"He showed against Wasps last weekend that he will take a gap if you show it to him, and he made a try for them with a lovely break.

"He has got a good kicking game and a bright future, but we will be putting a lot of pressure on him and making sure he doesn't enjoy his experience of Kingston Park."

Falcons head coach Alan Tait has made one change for today's game, with Alex Tait replacing Tom Catterick on the wing after recovering from a hamstring strain.

Newcastle are still without a number of senior players through injury, but despite defeats to Bath and Exeter, Tait insists his side remain in an upbeat mood.

"The lads have been buoyant this week and we've had some good training sessions," he said. "The scoreline at Exeter didn't do the boys any justice and I think we can draw a lot of positives from those first two matches. Apart from the try, we played some of our best rugby in the first half against Exeter last week."