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The lowly Reds suffered another setback when scrumhalf Will Genia withdrew from the side to face the Crusaders in a Super 14 Round 13 match in Brisbane on Saturday.

This blow comes just hours after it was confirmed that the Reds will welcome back Chris Latham for Saturday's showdown with the Crusaders, after the Wallaby fullback completed a speedy recovery from a knee injury.

Genia, who was ruled out because of a persistent ankle injury, was selected on the bench for the match at the Suncorp Stadium, but after examination on Wednesday by Reds medical staff it was recommended that he have an arthroscopy on the injured ankle.

Reds head coach Phil Mooney said inside centre Berrick Barnes would deputise for starting scrumhalf Ben Lucas if required, while wing Brando Va'aulu has been recalled to the bench to fill the gap left by Genia.

"Will hurt his ankle when he came on against the Chiefs in Waikato a fortnight ago. He's played on it since but it's gotten worse, so the call was made to pull him from the game so they can do a ‘scope' on the ankle to find out the extent of the problem," Mooney said.

But the return of Latham is a welcome boost as the Reds look to improve on their lowly 10th place on the standings - after just three wins and draw in 11 starts.

Latham said he was ready to play last week against the Blues, but was advised to give his knee another week to regain full strength and stability.

Goal-kicker Clinton Schifcofske moves to the wing to make room for Latham, forcing Digby Ioane back to the bench and Brando Va'aulu out of the matchday 22.

With veteran back row forward John Roe still out with a shoulder injury, Poutasi Luafutu will play blindside flank and last week's No.6 Scott Higginbotham moves back to the bench.

The 19-year old prop Ben Daley has been named on the bench, following the one week suspension of Rodney Blake, who was last night found guilty of a dangerous tackle on Blues flank Daniel Braid in last Friday's match.

SANZAR Judicial Officer Paul Tully found the contact with Braid was not intentional and reduced the prospective penalty accordingly.

Reds: 15 Chris Latham, 14 Clinton Schifcofske, 13 Morgan Turinui, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Peter Hynes, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Ben Lucas, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 David Croft, 6 Poutasi Luafutu, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Van Humphries, 3 Dayna Edwards, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Coutts.
Replacements: 16 Sean Hardman, 17 Ben Daley, 18 Ed O'Donoghue, 19 Scott Higginbotham, 20 Digby Ioane, 21 Brando Va'aulu, 22 Charlie Fetoai.

Date: Saturday, May 10
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kick-off: 19.40 (09.40 GMT)
Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Touch judges: Petri Bosch (South Africa), Shaun Moore (Australia)
TMO: Steve Leszczynski (Australia)