England Centre Joe Marchant has been left out of England’s 25-man squad to face Wales at Twickenham on Saturday – with Manu Tuilagi set to start in the midfield.
In addition to Tuilagi, flanker Courtney Lawes is set to make his Championship debut after recovering from a concussion.
However, lock Joe Launchbury has been released and returned to Premiership side Wasps.
Eddie Jones, England’s head coach, will announce his starting lineup on Thursday.
Sam Simmonds, a back row forward, has recovered from a hip injury to be included in the 25 and will compete with Alex Dombrandt for a starting spot at number 8.
After recovering from a concussion, wing Jack Nowell has also been declared fit.
“It’s a big game and we’re treating it like a quarter-final,” Gleeson said.
“It’s knockout stages for us. We know Wales fight like really hard and will make it really difficult for us.
“So we’ve got to go into this with a quarter-final mentality and go after Wales.
“If we don’t get the result on Saturday, we’re out.”
“He gives you that little bit of something different. He is so eager, the unseen work in attack to get himself in the right positions to then have an effective attack has really been evident. He has been working hard at Sale and he did with us in the autumn and his experience as well, he is the type of guy that just adds another dimension to your attack, to create overlaps or gaps in defences. He is the guy who can punch holes on his own so he will be a good part of the mix.
“Manu is Manu. His acceleration and the power with his acceleration is phenomenal. As a coach, it is great to have him in your squad,” continued Gleeson, who wants England to get immediately stuck into Wales on Saturday.
“We have to go after them when we have got the ball and when we haven’t so we need to have some line speed in defence and hit hard and when we have got the ball there are a few opportunities that we can see. We want to take them as quickly and as early in the game as possible. We don’t want to play in our shell, we want to play the brand of rugby that we want to play straight from the kick-off. It’s the blueprint that we want going forward for new England.
“We have still got a bit to go but we are going in the right direction. Tuesday was the best session we have done since I have been there. Just the intensity and some of the play was superb. I thought it was really good. We’re heading in the right direction. It’s never perfect. You are always aiming for that [perfection] but it never is. But we went to play with the intent and the right attitude to go after teams when we have got the ball and without.”
England squad
Forwards: Chessum, Cowan-Dickie, T Curry, Dombrandt, Ewels, Genge, George, Itoje, Isiekwe, Lawes, Marler, Rodd, Simmonds, Sinckler, Stuart. Backs: Daly, Ford, Malins, Nowell, Randall, Slade, Smith, Steward, Tuilagi, B Youngs.
