The 24-year-old prop has not played for the club since the Powergen Cup semi-final against Llanelli Scarlets on 4th March last year, having suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery.

But he is now fully recovered, and his return will be a boost to the front row, where Bath's resources have been stretched this season. Steve Meehan, who has cautioned against expecting too much from the prop in his first game after such a long lay-off, is looking forward to seeing Stevens in action for the first time since he joined the coaching set-up.

Aaron Jarvis makes way for Stevens in the starting fifteen, and with a wealth of options in the back row, Meehan will field a completely different trio from that which took on Montpellier in the European Challenge Cup last Saturday. Andy Beattie, James Scaysbrook and Zak Feaunati replace Peter Short, Michael Lipman and Gareth Delve respectively.

In the backs, Joe Maddock returns on the right wing after a week's rest, so Michael Stephenson switches to the left in place of David Bory.

Harlequins on the other hand have only made one change from their last outing, with the return of Nick Easter in the pack.

Easter returns to the back row at number eight and replaces Chris Hala'Ufia, who drops to the bench. The back division is unchanged, with a hamstring injury once again ruling out Andrew Mehrtens for the fourth week in a row.

With Hala'Ufia amongst the replacements, it means there is no place for Ugo Monye.

"Following our exit from the European Challenge Cup last weekend it means we can focus all our efforts on our remaining league fixtures and look to secure a top six finish," said Dean Richards, NEC Harlequins Director of Rugby.

"Tomorrow is a crucial game for us in terms of achieving that objective and one we have prepared hard for throughout this week.

"We've had a good run of results just recently, but that'll count for nothing if we're not at the top our game at the Recreation Ground tomorrow, which remains one of the toughest places for a visiting team to go and get a result."

Form: Bath's 42-17 win at home to Montpellier on Saturday qualified them for a home quarter final of the European Challenge Cup. Bath have now won five in a row at the Rec in all competitions since losing there 12-19 to Bristol in the Guinness Premiership in November. NEC Harlequins have won their last five matches in all competitions since a 16-22 reversal at home to Saracens in the Premiership on 22 December. The two sides have already met three times this season: Quins winning 9-3 at the Stoop in the Premiership 3 weeks ago, and twice in the European Challenge Cup, where Bath took both legs: 24-18 at the Stoop and 20-14 at The Rec in December.

Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Joe Maddock, 13 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Michael Stephenson, 10 Chris Malone, 9 Nick Walshe, 8 Isaac Feaunati, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Andy Beattie, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Steve Borthwick (c), 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Lee Mears, 1 David Barnes.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Peter Short, 19 Gareth Delve, 20 Michael Lipman, 21 Andy Williams, 22 Shaun Berne.

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 David Strettle, 13 Hal Luscombe, 12 Stuart Abbott, 11 Simon Keogh, 10 Adrian Jarvis, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Paul Volley (c), 6 Andre Vos, 5 Nicolas Spanghero, 4 Ollie Kohn, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Tani Fuga, 1 Aston Croall.
Replacements: 16 Jimmy Richards, 17 Ricky Nebbett, 18 Jim Evans, 19 Will Skinner, 20 Chris Hala'Ufia, 21 Steve So'oialo, 22 Mel Deane

Referee: Rob Debney
Touch judges: Ashley Reay, Roger Baileff
Television match official: Matt Peters