The Western Force will attempt to dent the confidence of Melbourne Rebels playmaker Kurtley Beale in Sunday’s Super Rugby clash in Perth.

Beale played a key role in last week’s upset 28-19 victory over the Crusaders, but the Force have been busy formulating plans to ensure the 23-year-old’s influence is limited.

“Kurtley’s playing with a lot of flair and confidence, and that brings others into the game,” Force interim coach Phil Blake said on Thursday.

“First and foremost we have to look after him, and if we do that, if we put enough pressure on him, hopefully that will work in our favour.

“The Rebels are coming here with a lot of confidence, and it’s up to us to take that confidence out of them.

“If you watch them play, you would think they are coming in the top-four in the competition.”

Veteran lock Nathan Sharpe sent an injury scare through the Force camp at training on Thursday when he rolled his left ankle while competing at a line-out.

Sharpe sat out the rest of the session while he iced the ankle, but the 34-year-old was confident the injury wouldn’t affect his chances of playing the Rebels.

Blake has made numerous changes to the team that copped a 53-11 hammering at the hands of the Sharks in Durban last week.

Outside centre Nick Cummins (quad) and flanker Richard Brown (corked knee) have been ruled out through injury, while inside centre Winston Stanley and fullback Alfie Mafi were dropped to the bench.

Rory Sidey and Will Tupou will form the new centre pairing, and Ben McCalman returns to the starting line-up in place of Brown.

In another change, 21-year-old Ben Seymour has been called up at five-eighth, with David Harvey shifting to fullback.

The Force have won just two of their 11 games this season, and Blake said it was crucial to improve their on-field discipline after giving away a glut of penalties over the past fortnight.

Force: David Harvey, Samu Wara, Will Tupou, Rory Sidey, Napolioni Nalaga, Ben Seymour, Brett Sheehan, Ben McCalman, David Pocock, Matt Hodgson, Nathan Sharpe, Toby Lynn, Salesi Ma’afu, Nathan Charles, Pek Cowan. Res: Salesi Manu, Elvis Taione, Phoenix Battye, Lachlan McCaffrey, Josh Holmes, Winston Stanley, Alfie Mafi