In all, coach Tony Brown has made seven changes to the starting team that took on and beat Southland in Invercargill last Saturday.
With the short turnaround and the task of having to play three games in 11 days, Brown has to manage his resources.
Winger Marshall Suckling comes into the starting side on the right wing, with Jayden Spence moving into the centre position from the right wing. Michael Collins drops out of the match-day squad.
Halfback Nick Ealey gets his first starting game for Otago, changing places with Josh Renton. Renton has shown some promise but is still raw in some areas.
In the forwards, Naulia Dawai comes into the No6 jersey to make his first start for the blue and golds.
Dawai is a big abrasive forward who made a couple of big hits against Southland but his ball security can be loose at times and he will need to be accurate in all facets of the game against a tough and energetic Canterbury pack.
Jackson Hemopo starts at lock, in place of Joe Latta, while in the front row, Hisa Sasagi and Sam Anderson-Heather come into the side for Liam Coltman and Donald Brighouse, who are both in the reserves.
Lee Allan comes into the reserves having got over a head knock that meant he missed the match against Southland.
Otago has five forwards on its bench.
With the match bound to be physical and plenty of players in the Otago backline being able to play in a variety of positions, the side can afford to have just two backs on the pine.
Canterbury may have lost the likes of Colin Slade and Joe Moody back to the All Blacks but it can still put out a side with plenty of talent.
In an interesting move, Highlanders winger Patrick Osborne has been moved to fullback, with Richie Mo'unga shifted to first five-eighth to take the position left by Slade's shift to the All Black camp.
Highlanders co-captain Nasi Manu will start at No8. He forms an impressive loose forward trio with Matt Todd at his preferred openside flanker role and Luke Whitelock on the blindside.
Lock Scott Barrett comes back into the starting team with Joel Everson moving to the bench.
It is going to be a tough ask for Otago to cause an upset and finish in front of Canterbury, which has won the domestic provincial competition for the past six seasons.
The red and blacks have won their first three games by wide margins and will have plenty of confidence going into the game.
