Clermont will expect to maintain their lead in the Top 14 when they entertain Castres on Friday evening.

Watch Clermont v Castres LIVE on Eurosport 2 from 19:30 GMT on Friday evening, and highlights of Perpignan v Biarritz on British Eurosport at 00:00 on Sunday morning.

Clermont will expect to maintain their lead in the Top 14 when they entertain Castres on Friday evening.

Vern Cotter's side have won their last 10 league matches and should prove too powerful for sixth-placed Castres when they welcome them to the Stade Marcel-Martin.

A bonus-point victory for Clermont will at least maintain their 10-point advantage over second-placed Toulouse, who they beat 23-11 away two weeks ago.

Clermont have recalled Springbok hooker Johns Smit but rest skipper and wing Aurelien Rougerie for the clash with a Castres team embarking on the first of three games in nine days.

And it could not be any more challenging for Marc McCall's side as they face Toulouse next Wednesday before taking on Brive three days later.

McCall will need to rotate his squad for the challenges ahead and will be boosted by the return to fitness of loose forward Julien Puricelli, second row Tim Barker and Kiwi centre Brad Fleming.

Toulouse, who have suffered from injuries in recent weeks, should maintain the pressure on Clermont when they welcome basement outfit Auch to the Stade Ernest-Wallon, also on Friday evening.

Having lead the standings for most of the season, Toulouse have lost two of their last four, and paid the price for fielding a weakened team when they went down 29-0 to Stade Francais at the end of last month.

Their loss to Clermont two weeks ago will have hurt the South West giants and Auch could be made to pay for what has to date been their only home defeat of the season.

Toulouse flanker Thierry Dusautoir is back to skipper the side and coach Guy Noves rests locks Fabien Pelous and Patricio Albacete after their exertions in last week's Heineken Cup semi-final triumph over London Irish.

Nicolas Bezy starts at scrum-half for Toulouse and forms a half-back pairing with Mathieu Belie.

Auch recall prop Fabien Barcella following a calf injury but could be without loose forward Robins Tchale-Watchou, who is receiving treatment for a twisted knee.

The key fixture of the weekend sees fifth-placed Biarritz travel to in-form Perpignan, who have moved up to fourth after eight wins and a draw from their last three games.

A loss for Biarritz would see them drift further from the play-off zone with five games remaining in the regular season.

The good new for the Atlantic Coast side is that France scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili has recovered from a bout of bronchitis and could face Scotland scrum-half Chris Cusiter, who is available for Perpignan.

Third-place Stade Francais will look to maintain their top-four challenge when they welcome Bourgoin to the capital.

Stade have won five league ties on the bounce and welcome back France lock Pascal Pape, though they are without centre Stephane Glas and full-back Nicolas Jeanjean.

Bourgoin are winless in their last four and have slipped back into ninth place.

Montauban have a good chance of taking over in sixth spot when they visit second-from-bottom Dax, who will be boosted by the return from injury of skipper Thomas Lievremont.

The weekend's other games see Brive travel to Albi and Montpellier to Bayonne, both on Saturday.

Terence O'Rorke / Eurosport