CAPTAIN Lewis Evans returns from injury to lead Newport Gwent Dragons from blindside flanker in Sunday’s Guinness Pro12 clash with Edinburgh at Rodney Parade.

The skipper sat out the Anglo-Welsh Cup dates against Leicester and the Scarlets after limping off in the excellent win against league champions Connacht at the start of the month with a calf injury.

He forms a back row with Ollie Griffiths and Ed Jackson to face the Scots while head coach Kingsley Jones keeps changes to his matchday squad to a minimum as they hunt a fourth home win on the spin.

There are five changes to the XV that beat the Scarlets with Jack Dixon getting the nod at inside centre while scrum-half Tavis Knoyle starts with Sarel Pretorius set to add energy from the bench.

Evans is joined in the pack by hooker Rhys Thomas and tighthead Brok Harris after they were replacements against the west Walians.

Dragons record points scorer Jason Tovey gets the nod for Edinburgh at fly-half ahead of Duncan Weir, who is among the replacements.

The visitors are boosted by the presence of flanker Magnus Bradbury, who made his Test debut for Scotland against Argentina last weekend.

He does not feature for the national side against Georgia but loosehead Allan Dell, hooker Ross Ford, flanker Hamish Watson and lock Grant Gilchrist are in action in Kilmarnock.

Former Leicester, Munster and Connacht scrum-half Frank Murphy will make his Pro12 debut as referee in the fixture.

The 34-year-old has taken charge of a European Nations Cup fixture between Germany and Portugal and was the whistler when Wales Under-20s claimed the Six Nations Grand Slam against Italy last season.

Dragons: C Meyer, P Howard, S Beard, J Dixon, A Hewitt, A O'Brien, T Knoyle, S Hobbs, R Thomas, B Harris, N Crosswell, R Landman, L Evans (captain), O Griffiths, E Jackson. Replacements: R Buckley, P Price, L Fairbrother, M Screech, N Cudd, S Pretorius, GR Jones, T Morgan

Edinburgh: B Kinghorn, D Hoyland, C Dean, P Burleigh, M Allen, J Tovey, S Kennedy, J Cosgrove, N Cochrane, M McCallum, F McKenzie, B Toolis, M Bradbury, J Ritchie, N Manu. Replacements: S McInally, K Whyte, F Arregui, L Carmichael, V Mata, S Hidalgo-Clyne, D Weir, G Bryce.

Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)