The England scrum-half Matt Dawson, who was last week dropped from the national squad for putting his television commitments before a training session, will be placing his team before any individual interests when he makes his first return to Northampton tomorrow after joining Wasps in the summer.

Dawson was accused of self-interest when he skipped the squad session last week to film some episodes of A Question of Sport, for which he had been appointed one of the team captains, and he was summarily dropped by England's acting head coach Andy Robinson, adding to what will be an emotionally charged day for him at Franklin's Gardens.

"I must not let the occasion and what's gone on with England get the better of me," said Dawson. "This is a team event and I need to remember that. While it is easy to get carried away with the nostalgia of facing your old club, I must not forget that Wasps have employed me to do a job.

"It is the first game I looked for when the fixture list was released, but I have to be professional. It will be strange using the away dressing room, having spent some fantastic years with the Saints, and I do not know what to expect from the fans or my former team, but I am relishing the day.

"I still want to play for England and I will be doing my utmost to get back into the team. It's out of my hands at the moment, but if I play well for my club I hope I can force my way back into the set-up. At the moment, this weekend is enough to focus on."

Dawson will be up against the player he found difficult to dislodge last season, the former New Zealand scrum-half Mark Robinson, who is fit again after injuring a knee at Harlequins three weeks ago, and the Northampton wing John Rudd will also be appearing against his former employers after leaving Wasps in the summer.

Quins, who give a debut to the Lions wing Dafydd James in the basement battle at Worcester tomorrow where he will partner the fit-again Will Greenwood in the centre, have turned down a ground-sharing request from Brentford FC, who are planning to sell Griffin Park and build a stadium at Kew Bridge.

"We have no plans to share The Stoop with any football club," said the Quins chief executive Mark Evans. "Our aim for the long term is to be a centre of excellence for rugby in south-west London."

The Brentford executive director John McGlashan said: "The Stoop is an ideal location for us, but planning approval would be required for football to be played there. Harlequins are already pushing through an application to increase the capacity at the ground to the required minimum 10,000 level, and their view is that the council would not authorise both a change of use for soccer and ground improvements."

Greenwood's former club Leicester have left the England second-row Ben Kay out of their side to face Newcastle at Kingston Park tomorrow, with Louis Deacon taking his place on rota, and the Tigers' hooker George Chuter faces a spell on the sidelines after being cited for alleged foul play against Northampton last weekend.

Newcastle will field Jonny Wilkinson at fly-half after toying with the idea of playing him in the centre because of an injury crisis in midfield and he will be up against Leicester's 19-year-old stand-off Ross Broadfoot, who had a fine full debut against the Saints.

The Scotland wing Simon Danielli joined the Borders on a season-long loan yesterday after accepting that he had little chance of winning back his place at Bath, who are set to sign their second Wales international this week. The Leeds full-back Matt Cardey is expected to follow Geraint Lewis to the Recreation Ground, with Matt Perry facing another long injury lay-off.