New Zealand's 2011 Rugby World Cup hero Stephen Donald will captain an inexperienced Chiefs lineup against the Lions.
The Lions will look to further build momentum towards the first Test against the All Blacks after beating the Maori All Blacks in Rotorua.
"There's no doubt there's some pressure on him because certain players and certain combinations have gone well", Gatland said.
"A lot of those guys who played against the Crusaders did exceptionally well, and last night's performance against the Maori, we dominated territory and possession, and we squeezed the life out them, an unbelievably talented backline that just went nowhere".
"For Sam, we were hoping he was going to be part of the 23 against the Crusaders", Gatland was quoted as saying by Sky Sports. Unfortunately he rolled his ankle a little bit so hadn't recovered in time.
"The will be some discussions and debates to be had about the final make-up of the back-row for Saturday".
A day after New Zealand fired a shot across the Lions' bow with a 78-0 hammering against Samoa at Eden Park, the tourists responded in kind with a morale-boosting victory of their own on Saturday.
Jonathan Joseph, the England centre, appears to have leapfrogged his way up the pecking order after his impressive game against the Highlanders in Dunedin last Tuesday and is likely to be on the bench.
Former All Blacks loose forward Liam Messam and hooker Hika Elliot also played in that 32-10 defeat but have been named on the bench for Tuesday's game.
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Open - one fewer than the number who had done it over the first 116 years of what had been known as the toughest test in golf. Hideki Matsuyama and Brian Harman are tied for second at 12 under, followed by Tommy Fleetwood another stroke back.
"I was always confident about Owen Farrell being fit", said Gatland, of the England fly-half's quadriceps strain. "I was never unconfident about that".
"It's about looking after everyone to make sure we get the best performance in the Test matches when they come around".
"Leigh Halfpenny obviously took a knock on the weekend, so he's going through the Head Injury Assessment (HIA) protocols". George Kruis did a fantastic job in leading that.
"But aside from that nothing that's a concern for too long".
"He is a little bit more anxious than he normally is, saying these comments about us, things he knows about or doesn't know about".
Chiefs: 15-Shaun Stevenson, 14-Toni Pulu, 13-Tim Nanai-Williams, 12-Johnny Faauli, 11-Solomon Alaimalo, 10-Stephen Donald (captain), 9-Finlay Christie, 8-Tom Sanders, 7-Lachlan Boshier, 6-Mitchell Brown, 5-Michael Allardice, 4-Dominic Bird, 3-Nepo Laulala, 2-Liam Polwart, 1-Siegfried Fisi'ihoi.
"All the back-three out there on Tuesday, they're all pretty versatile".
"As a scrum we talk about the back five giving us the energy, we think about the processes of course but they provide the energy".
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