Bates wants to move on from Bath blow.

Byline: NICK PUREWAL

IF defeat at Bath did not kick the Falcons up the backside and back into shape, then Steve Bates and Co hope this week's Kingston Park inquests do the trick, writes NICK PUREWAL.

Newcastle entertain Leicester Tigers at Kingston Park tonight (kick-off 8pm) and rugby director Bates wants his men to get back to winning ways, by getting back to what they know.

Sucked into sevens-style rugby in the Recreation Ground sunshine, Bates' men let Bath trick them into mixing it out wide, rather than grunting it through the middle.

Leicester can meddle either way, and Bates knows his side will only prevail if they cut out the crazy ambition and start playing within themselves - and in the right areas of the pitch.

"We slipped backwards in what we were trying to do at Bath," Bates admitted.

"We got caught up in the conditions, it being a really nice day and them throwing the ball around.

"We strayed from where we have been, so we've made it clear this week that we are expecting a slightly different approach.

"We're still a little too inconsistent, so we need to keep progressing our game."

While Jonny Wilkinson was widely tipped for a seat on the bench tonight, Bates revealed the World Cup winner's knee swelling did not abate anywhere near time. Ian McGeechan will finalise the Lions tour squad on April 21, leaving Wilkinson just three weeks to prove fitness and form.

But if Wilkinson is in a rush, Bates is not.

"Jonny hasn't really recovered at the rate we thought he would," Bates said.

"It was pretty clear pretty early on that he wouldn't be able to take part in training, so the quick turnaround in games meant that really he was never in contention.

"It's almost a day-to-day assessment, this has been a bit of a setback but everyone's confident he's moving along the right lines, it's just a case of seeing how he reacts when he's back running around. It's just not an option, it doesn't make any sense to rush him back. We're not in desperate need of him, a 75% fit Jonny Wilkinson is just not a starter.

"There's been a little bit of talk about him possibly filling that third fly-half spot and that still being open, but we need to be very sensible, taking his injury record into account."

NEWCASTLE FALCONS: A Tait; T Visser, J Noon, T Tu'ipulotu, J Rudd; T May, H Charlton; J Golding, M Thompson, Carl Hayman, G Parling, M Sorenson, T Swinson, B Wilson, P Dowson (capt). Replacements: R Vickers, D Wilson, A Perry, P Browne, R Winter, M Young, R Miller.

LEICESTER TIGERS: G Murphy; S Hamilton, A Erinle, A Mauger, A Tuilagi; T Flood, H Ellis; B Stankovich, G Chuter, M Castrogiovanni, L Deacon, B Kay, T Croft, B Woods, M Corry (capt). Replacements: M Davies, D Cole, D Hemingway, B Pienaar, B Youngs, S Vesty, J Murphy.