WARREN Gatland says the heat is on Alun Wyn Jones in Wellington after the talismanic Wales lock kept his British and Irish Lions place for the second Test against the All Blacks.

The 31-year-old is an established Test campaigner with 110 caps under his belt, was captain in the Six Nations and is arguably his country’s finest ever second row forward.

However, the Ospreys ace was under par in the opener against New Zealand as the world champions bossed the tight exchanges at Eden Park.

Jones has kept his place for the must-win clash at the “Cake Tin” with England’s George Kruis the man to miss out, Maro Itoje stepping up from the bench and Courtney Lawes earning a spot as a replacement.

There is no place for Ulster’s Iain Henderson despite a strong showing in midweek against the Hurricanes and Jones – who will start his eighth consecutive Lions Test and was captain in the series clincher against Australia four years ago – needs to respond against the formidable duo of Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock.

“It is a big game for Alun Wyn. He knows,” said head coach Gatland. “He was a bit disappointed last week in how it went, and he’s pretty focused and pretty motivated.

“It’s potentially a one-on-one challenge with him and his opposition. Normally in the past when he’s had those challenges, he’s really fronted the next game.

“He’s trained well this week and I think he’s looking forward to Saturday night. We had a long debate about a six-two split on the bench.

“And in the end it was just too much of a risk, if we lost a couple of backs. We’ve got a couple of players who haven’t always had the greatest injury record in big matches.

“We saw the All Blacks last week losing two backs, and potentially the pressure that puts you under having to bring a nine on and move some people around.

“But we did have a long discussion about that.”

Gatland admitted Henderson’s yellow card in Tuesday’s 31-31 Hurricanes draw hindered his cause for second Test selection - but has told the Ulster lock to keep fighting for a place in the third and final All Blacks showdown.

“The yellow card was disappointing, he would have been disappointed,” said Gatland. “I thought his carrying again was excellent, he causes teams a lot of problems.

“I had a chat to him and told him ‘we spoke a lot about you and being involved in the 23’. Courtney Lawes did very well too when he was on.

“Iain’s been causing teams problems with his carrying and I think he’s got better from game to game.

“I told him ‘just because you’re not involved for this game doesn’t mean you’re not going to be excluded for the next match’.”

Sam Warburton captains the side from blindside flanker instead of Peter O’Mahony, who led the Lions in the 30-15 loss in Auckland.

He misses out on the 23 altogether with Munster teammate CJ Stander getting the nod to add back row oomph off the bench.

Gatland makes a change in midfield with Owen Farrell moving out and Johnny Sexton starting at fly-half. Ben Te’o is on the bench despite a strong showing in the Test opener, shutting down All Blacks dangerman Sonny Bill Williams and forming a strong partnership with Jonathan Davies.

Centre Robbie Henshaw and wing George North will miss the rest of the tour after suffering a torn pectoral muscle and hamstring tear respectively against the Hurricanes.

Lions team: L Williams (Wales), A Watson (England), J Davies (Wales), O Farrell, E Daly (both England), J Sexton, C Murray (both Ireland), M Vunipola, J George (both England), T Furlong (Ireland), M Itoje (England), AW Jones, S Warburton (both Wales, captain), S O’Brien (Ireland), T Faletau (Wales).

Replacements: K Owens (Wales), J McGrath (Ireland), K Sinckler, C Lawes (both England), CJ Stander (Ireland), R Webb (Wales), B Te’o, J Nowell (both England)