Aaron Cruden has recovered from his knee injury and will be on the bench for the All Blacks on Saturday night.

Aaron Cruden has beaten a knee injury to take his spot on the bench in the first test against the British and Irish Lions at Eden Park on Saturday night.

Cruden was initially bracketed on the bench with Lima Sopoaga due to concerns over medial ligament damage in his knee picked up in the Chiefs' win over the Hurricanes earlier this month.

READ MORE:

* Hansen: Why I picked Rieko

* Crotty: Sideline to centre stage

* Hansen: 'cool, calm and excited'

The All Blacks confirmed on Twitter that the 28-year-old would pull on the No 22 jersey.

UPDATE: Aaron Cruden has been confirmed in the 22 jersey in Sat night's first DHL NZ Lions Series Test. #NZLvBIL #LionsNZ2017 — All Blacks (@AllBlacks) June 22, 2017

That means Sopoaga drops out of the match day squad.

If Cruden gets on the field, it will be his 48th test and means he is still on target to play his 50th test before heading to French club Montpellier at the end of the Super Rugby season.

Cruden, from Manawatu, has scored 322 points, including five tries, in test rugby since his debut in 2010.