There is one change in the backs with Gavin Evans starting at inside centre in place of Dafydd Hewitt, who is out with a hamstring injury.
Meanwhile there are two changes in the backrow with Josh Navidi and Maama Molitika both starting, Sam Warburton and Michael Paterson moving to the bench. The second row in unchanged but the Blues start with two new props: Scott Andrews and John Yapp both starting in place of Taufa’ao Filise, who is out with a shoulder injury, and Gethin Jenkins who is out with illness.
Jamie Roberts was not available for selection having suffered a knee injury in the win against the Dragons, however, he should be available for selection for the Heineken Cup match against London Irish. Chris Czekaj, Richard Mustoe and Tom James were also unavailable for selection with hamstring injuries but should all should be available in the next week or so.
The Ospreys have slipped to three straight defeats in all competitions, but are unbeaten in three of their last four games in the RaboDirect PRO12 and the Blues know it will be a difficult match against Scott Johnson’s men, having recorded just one victory over Ospreys in their last four encounters. Their only previous win on Ospreys soil was 28-9 on their first visit to Liberty Stadium on 22 December 2005.
However the Blues have won four of their last five fixtures in the RaboDirect PRO12 and go into the match on the back of a convincing win against the Dragons.
Cardiff Blues 15 Gavin Henson 14 Leigh Halfpenny 13 Casey Laulala 12 Gavin Evans 11 Alex Cuthbert 10 Ceri Sweeney 9 Lloyd Williams
8 Xavier Rush 7 Josh Navidi 6 Maama Molitika 5 Paul Tito (c) 4 Bradley Davies 3 Scott Andrews 2 Ryan Tyrell 1 John Yapp
16 Marc Breeze 17 Sam Hobbs 18 Ryan Harford 19 Michael Paterson 20 Sam Warburton 21 Richie Rees 22 Dan Parks 23 Harry Robinson
Not available due to injury
Chris Czekaj – hamstring
Jamie Roberts – knee
Richard Mustoe – hamstring
Dafydd Hewitt - hamstring
Gethin Jenkins – illness
Thomas Rhys Thomas – shoulder
Taufa’ao Filise – shoulder
James Down - ankle
Andries Pretorius - knee
Deiniol Jones - shoulder
Martyn Williams - arm
Kristian Dacey - shoulder