Bruce Reihana moves to full-back with Paul Diggin coming on to the wing.
Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder said: “Northampton against Leicester is always a big game. You have to have a good attitude going into a derby match and our players have been training well this week.We’re looking forward to another match in front of a big crowd.”
The amended Saints team for the Guinness Premiership match at Leicester is now as follows:
15 Bruce Reihana
14 Chris Ashton
13 Jon Clarke
12 James Downey
11 Paul Diggin
10 Stephen Myler
9 Lee Dickson
1 Regardt Dreyer
2 Brett Sharman
3 Soane Tonga'uiha
4 James Cannon
5 Christian Day
6 Phil Dowson (c)
7 Neil Best
8 Roger Wilson
Replacements
16 Joe Gray
17 Alex Waller
18 Jon Vickers
19 Mark Easter
20 Scott Gray
21 Alan Dickens
22 Barry Everitt
23 Joe Ansbro