RYAN SHORTLAND is hoping to put his injury misery behind him as Newcastle Falcons look to cement their strong start to the Aviva Premiership season when they entertain London Irish tomorrow.

Shortland returned from a month-long injury lay off in Brive last weekend, and scored a well-taken try as Falcons picked up a losing bonus point in their second Amlin Challenge Cup game.

The New Zealander was one of Newcastle's stand-out performers in pre-season, scoring tries against Bath and Connacht, but an untimely calf problem ruled him out of the first four weeks of the season.

Having returned to full fitness, however, the winger is determined to help Falcons leapfrog their opponents in the Premiership table when London Irish visit Kingston Park.

“The timing of the injury was frustrating,” said Shortland. “Having played all the pre-season games and put in a summer's worth of work, I was even named in the team on the Wednesday before the first Premiership game.

“It was just tightness more than anything, but I needed to get it right. Thankfully, we are on top of it now and I am happy to be back. You get pretty isolated when you are injured, and it is nice just to be fit again and to be part of it.”

Tomorrow's weather forecast suggests that storms could be brewing by kick-off, reducing the likelihood of an open, attacking game.

The performances of the respective packs are likely to be crucial, along with the effectiveness of the two sides' kicking games, with Falcons fly-half Rory Clegg under pressure to dictate affairs from behind the scrum.

“I've got used to the winters over here now,” said Shortland. “I've tried to build my play around it. As much as I love to run the ball, I've been doing a lot of work on my kicking.

“Sometimes you just need to play it safe and be smart, even if it means an afternoon on kick-chase duty. Both ourselves and Irish desperately need this win, and both have good attacking players.”

Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards has named Danny Barnes alongside Adam Powell in a remodelled centre pairing.

Barnes joined Falcons in the summer from Munster, but suffered an elbow injury in last month's 15-14 win over Sale Sharks.

The former Ireland under-20 international is one of seven changes to the side that played in Brive, with full-back Alex Tait also returning after a virus.

Tom Catterick replaces Sean Brown on the wing, with Clegg and Mike Blair forming the half-back combination.

There are two changes in the pack, with Italy international Carlo del Fava and stand-in skipper Ally Hogg getting the nod.

NEWCASTLE FALCONS: Tait, Catterick, Barnes, Powell, Shortland, Clegg, Blair; Vickers, Lawson, Tomaszczyk, del Fava, McKenzie, Barrow, M Wilson, Hogg.

Replacements: McGuigan, Shiells, Brookes, MacLeod, Welch, Fury, Godman, Fitzpatrick.