Exeter full-back Stuart Hogg drops to the bench as fit-again England back Jack Nowell comes in for their Premiership semi-final against Sale.

Sale are without fly-half AJ MacGinty who picked up a hamstring injury in last week's game between the pair.

The USA international is replaced by Dan du Preez.

Nowell has been out for more than a month after spraining medial knee ligaments in the victory against Worcester on 8 May.

The 28-year-old will be making just his fourth appearance of the season after undergoing toe surgery in October and then suffering a hamstring problem in March.

The decisions to ban Skinner and Ewers has also been criticised by Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter with Ewers having an in-game yellow card upgraded to a red after being cited for the challenge on Simon Hammersley.

Ewers - who came third in the Premiership Player of the Season awards - has been a key component in their forward-based attacking play that has seen Sam Simmonds score a record 20 league tries.

Scotland's Jonny Gray returns for compatriot Skinner, while Richard Capstick replaces Ewers as Exeter prepare for their sixth-successive home semi-final having won each of the last five.

For Sale, South Africa hooker Akker van der Merwe and flanker Cameron Neild - who were also injured on Saturday - miss out with Curtis Langdon coming into the front row and Ben Curry joining brother Tom in the back row.

Their other change to the starting line-up sees experienced winger Marland Yarde replace Arron Reed, who scored the Sharks' third try last week.

'Exorcise' the disappointment

Sale boss Alex Sanderson says his side have the chance to "exorcise" the disappointment of last week's final-day loss to Exeter.

The Sharks gave up a 19-3 second-half lead to lose 20-19 at Sandy Park and miss the chance to host the tie.

It is Sale's first play-off game since they won their only title 15 years ago.

"We're very very motivated to go down there and have another crack," director of rugby Sanderson said.

"When you play rugby and you've left something out there, you didn't quite empty the tanks and you go home, that's what causes the discomfort, the anger, the angst, all the feelings that you aren't able to exorcise until the week after.

"Even when you do exorcise them, it's not against the same team so you don't exorcise them fully, we've got the opportunity to exorcise them all, that's a gift."

'Do or die' fixture

The Sharks needed a four-try bonus-point win last week to have any chance of leap-frogging second-placed Exeter to get a home semi-final.

Sanderson's men looked on course for it when Exeter were reduced to 14 men following a 53rd-minute red card for Skinner when they were three tries up.

But Sale failed to score against the short-handed Chiefs, who got their game together to seal a narrow victory thanks to tries from Stu Townsend and Luke Cowan-Dickie and a Joe Simmonds penalty.

"If you look at that game we've got to worry about 10-15 minutes after the red card, that was our concern in terms of our review. They've got to worry about 60 minutes," added Sanderson.

"For the most part we had the running of that game, physically dominated them."

But Exeter boss Baxter feels his side will have a different mindset this time around.

"The difficult scenario for us, if we're perfectly frank about it, was that we didn't need to win the game," he told BBC Sport.

"We just went in thinking that we were going to be OK and we'd be able to manage the scenario to what we needed out of the game, but the reality was Sale weren't thinking that at all, they were coming here to demand a five-point win and get a home semi-final.

"The precise moment that looked like that was exactly what was going to happen we changed, which shows the psychological effect of the game situation. We're off and running and we looked a very good side, even with 14 men.

"I would like to think a semi-final, a bit of do or die, no way back, no way of managing it other than a win, will bring the best out of us."

Exeter: Nowell; Cuthbert, Slade, Devoto, O'Flaherty; J Simmonds (capt), Maunder; Hepburn, Cowan-Dickie, Williams, Gray, Hill, Kirsten, Capstick, S Simmonds.

Replacements: Yeandle, Moon, Street, Lonsdale, Armand, Townsend, H Skinner, Hogg.

Sale: Hammersley; McGuigan, S James, Tuilagi, Yarde; R du Preez, de Klerk; Harrison, Langdon, Oosthuizen, Wiese, J-L du Preez, T Curry (capt), B Curry, D du Preez.

Replacements: Ashman, Morozov, John, Phillips, Ross, Quirke, Wilkinson, Janse van Rensburg.

Referee: Tom Foley (RFU).