With regular captain Gareth Gravell still out of action following a motor accident, Evans takes over the leadership role as the Welsh All Blacks look to move up the table.
Neath remain without long-term injury victims Gareth King, Jason Howells, Tom James and Stuart Vokes but they include three recent signings in No.8 Rhys Williams and the returning pair of centre John Leyshon and prop Marc Jones. Flanker Emyr Williams is also back in contention.
Coach Patrick Horgan said: “We used last week’s break in fixtures to put in some heavy, conditioning work and it was good to see the new faces fitting in so well.
“We are still looking to strengthen the squad after summer losses.
“On Saturday, we need to build on our second-half performance at Cardiff where we finished the stronger side but Newport have been going well recently and they are always one of the biggest draws on our list.”
Newport travel in good form on the back of four consecutive wins. Their record at The Gnoll does not make pretty reading though and they will have history against them as they look to secure a fifth win on the bounce.
For their 500th Welsh Premier League, Newport give former favourite Mike Poole a start on the wing. Young centre Dominic Franchi is on the bench and could make his official debut for the Black and Ambers.
Neath: 15 Aaron Bramwell 14 Kevin James 13 Ryan Evans 12 John Leyshon 11 Elliot Jones 10 David Langdon, 9 Chris Morgans, 1 Nicky Downs 2 Rhodri Clancy 3 Marc Jones 4 Euros Evans 5 Jonny Griffiths 6 Lee Evans (c) 7 Emyr Williams 8 Rhys Williams.
Replacements: Owain Ford, Alun Wyn Davies, Tom Price, Rhys Jones, Leon Ward, Kyle Davies, Jonny Davies, Ben Jones.
Newport: J Leadbeater, E Frewen, G O’Driscoll, W Richards, M Poole, S Sneddon, A Quick, N Williams, A Brown, T Ryan, R Jones, A Frampton, S Waldron, C Attwell (c), R Coombs.
Replacements: R Prosser, J Jeune, D Rosser, B Lampitt, A Awcock, D Franchi, R Downes, A Jeffries.
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