Revenge will be on the minds of Western Force players when they take on Queensland Reds in Saturday night's Super Rugby clash at Perth's nib Stadium.

The Force were left heartbroken when the Reds came from behind to snatch a dramatic one-point win in the season opener in February.

The match set the tone for the Force's season, with the Perth-based franchise losing a host of tight games to crash out of the finals race.

In contrast, the Reds are sitting pretty in top spot with 11 wins from 14 outings, putting them in pole position to take out the title.

Force coach Richard Graham is keen to put a dent in Queensland's hopes of topping the table, admitting the round one loss still lingered in his mind.

"There's no doubt it's a part of the motivation, because we were disappointed with that result," Graham said.

The Reds suffered a shock 22-14 loss to the Brumbies last week and also lost key backs Ben Lucas (knee), Digby Ioane (concussion) and Anthony Faingaa (hamstring) in the process.

But Graham said Queensland remained a formidable outfit despite their injury worries.

"They've got a number of injuries in their backs, but they've got their forward pack and nine and 10 in place. That's significant," he said.

"If you have a look at the backline they'll probably put out - Ben Tapuai, Will Chambers, (Rod) Davies, (Luke) Morahan are guys that have played for effectively every week of the season.

"They'll come out here with an outstanding team. They are a good team and they're top of the table."

The Force welcome back star Wallaby James O'Connor (neck/shoulder) and scrumhalf Brett Sheehan (bicep) from injury, while reserve scrumhalf James Stannard retains the No.10 jersey due to Willie Ripia's continued fitness woes.

Ripia, the Force's marquee development player, suffered a stress fracture in his foot during the pre-season and failed to impress when he finally made his way onto the pitch in round eight.

Graham said the 25-year-old former Hurricanes playmaker, who has missed the past two games with a series of leg complaints, was struggling to get his body up to speed.

"It's no longer a foot injury - it's a calf injury, it's a hamstring injury, it's a quad injury," Graham said.

"He's played week to week without training. That's my fault in getting him out there and he hasn't managed to overcome it."

Graham said he tried to limit the changes to his side after last week's impressive 21-14 win over the Highlanders.

O'Connor has been named at fullback, but the 20-year-old will spend large periods of the game at inside centre.

After showing excellent form in Dunedin, Rory Sidey retains his place at 12 with Patrick Dellit his midfield partner at outside centre.

Nick Cummins returns to the wing while Richard Brown has been selected at No.8, with Ben McCalman dropping to the bench.

Regular fullback Cameron Shepherd (hamstring) couldn't be considered for selection.

Force: James O'Connor, Nick Cummins, Patrick Dellit, Rory Sidey, David Smith, James Stannard, Brett Sheehan, Richard Brown, David Pocock, Matt Hodgson, Nathan Sharpe (capt), Sam Wykes, Matt Dunning, Nathan Charles, Kieran Longbottom. Res: Ben Whittaker, Tim Fairbrother, Tom Hockings, Ben McCalman, Mark Swanepoel, Mitch Inman, Alfie Mafi.

Queensland squad: Ben Daley, Saia Faingaa, James Slipper, Rob Simmons, James Horwill, Scott Higginbotham, Ben Coridas, Radike Samo, James Hanson, Greg Holmes, Adam Wallace-Harrison, Jake Schatz, Liam Gill, Will Genia, Quade Cooper, Ben Tapuai, Luke Morahan, Ian Prior, Will Chambers, Dom Shipperley, Jono Lance, Dallan Murphy, Rod Davies.

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