The mercurial fly-half, who was controversially overlooked for England's World Cup squad, will be making only his second appearance after recovering from a ruptured cruciate ligament suffered while on international duty last November.
After a punishing eight-week summer training schedule with England, the 27-year-old finally made his long-awaited return to action last Sunday when Sale won their opening pre-season friendly against French side Bayonne 22-17.
Despite that lengthy spell on the sidelines, Hodgson made it look as if he had never been away, kicking 14 points in a hugely encouraging first-half performance before being rested by Sale director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre.
It was a reminder, if any were needed, of just how much Sale missed the influence of their on-field general last term.
"Charlie looked very good in kicking 14 points in the first half for us," said Saint-Andre. "I still cannot believe that England have overlooked him for the World Cup, but their loss is Sale Sharks' gain.
Pleased
"Overall, I was pleased with the players' first outing after a long but very productive close season's work under our head of physical preparation Nick Johnston. The players looked fresh and very fit.
"All my players know that they have a great opportunity to stake a claim for selection at the moment. And after Friday's game against Samoa, my squad will be given another chance to push for selection next week when we stage our first-ever `Inter-Squad' game."
With international players away with their respective countries, preparing for next month's World Cup, Saint-Andre knows the importance of making a good start to the season as the 2006 Guinness Premiership champions look to atone for last year's injury-ravaged campaign which saw Sale finish in 10th place and go out at the group stage of the Heineken Cup.
"I am expecting my players to compete fully and make them want me to pick them for the first Guinness Premiership game of the new season away to Newcastle in just over three weeks time," Saint-Andre said.
"We sampled success at Twickenham in May 2006 when we won the Premiership title but we know we had a poor season last time out. We have most of the squad fully fit and we are looking to repay the faith our fans showed in us last season, starting on Friday evening."
While Sale flex their muscles against one of England's World Cup opponents, two of Edgeley Park's favourite sons will be aiming to cement their World Cup claims on Sunday when hosts France travel to Cardiff to play Wales in their final warm-up match.
Sharks duo Sebastien Chabal and Sebastien Bruno have both been named in the French squad and Chabal in particular, who scored the match-winning try when France beat England at Twickenham a fortnight ago, will be keen to impress coach Bernard Laporte ahead of their World Cup opener againt Argetina on September 7.
KICK-off against Samoa is 7.45pm. Tickets can be purchased at www.salesharks.com or from the ticket office on 08712-220120.
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