NEWCASTLE Falcons will decide after this morning's training whether Jonny Wilkinson is ready to make his latest comeback in Sunday's home Premiership match against Worcester.

After a six-week lay-off following a hernia operation Wilkinson was yesterday named in a squad of 27, in which forwards Geoff Parling, Ben Woods, Tino Paoletti and David Wilson were added to the 22 on duty in Tuesday's 13-10 win at Leeds.

If Wilkinson is fit he will probably be on the bench with either Toby Flood or Dave Walder starting at fly half, where they played 40 minutes each on Tuesday.

When all are fit the Falcons are spoilt for choice at No 10 and England centre Jamie Noon said: "They all have plusses which make them very useful to the team.

"With Jonny you probably get more of an all-round package with his good defence, his exceptional kicking, his reading of the game and his experience.

"Dave knows how to dictate a game and on days when conditions are not so good he can kill teams off with his territorial kicking. He will admit that he has needed to improve his defence, but we can all see in training and in matches that he is doing it and he will continue to get better in that area.

"Toby has shown excellent defensive qualities and he can see a gap in the line when he attacks. All he lacks is experience and you only get that from playing regularly."

Worcester, fourth in the table, lost at home to Bath on Monday and the Falcons are expecting a backlash.

Prop Micky Ward, who will be making his 135th appearance for his local club, said: "Worcester are probably up there with Saracens as the best pack in the league.

"I love playing against teams like that because you can test yourself against the best there is in this country. It will be a good chance to see how far the pack has come under Peter Walton.

"We had a meeting the night before the Leeds game and we said there were 13 Premiership games left, seven at home, and we didn't want to leave it until the last few games to ensure safety, like we did two years ago.

"We know there is still a lot more to come from the forwards, but we are starting to do in games what we know we can do in training.

"We are at Wasps next weekend, so we might just have a few quiet ones on Sunday evening. The New Year's party will have to wait until the end of the season, when hopefully we will have something to celebrate."

Newcastle have sold 7,500 tickets for Sunday's game and expect a few to be available on the day. They are also running a park-and-ride scheme from the racecourse with buses leaving every 15 minutes for two hours before and after the game.

* Three Barnard Castle School pupils are in a 23-strong North Under 16 squad for a divisional festival at Castlecroft, Wolverhampton, on January 28-29. They will also have a training weekend at Lytham on January 8-9.

Matthew Lister, a member of the Darlington club, will be joined by schoolmates William Stewart and Rory Clegg. Others in the squad are Mustafa Mohammed (Yarm School and Middlesbrough), Robert Bell (Boldon School and Westoe), Kyle Booysen (Houghton Kepier), Luke Fletcher (Egglescliffe), Todd Harrison, Fred Burdon (Newcastle RGS).