Warriors ready to invade Edinburgh

Glasgow Warriors will have to be at their very best to claim derby victory over an in-form Edinburgh, according to head coach Gregor Townsend.

Edinburgh have made great strides under new boss Alan Solomons and moved into the top half of the Pro12 table with victory against Leinster on Friday.

That followed a European win at Gloucester the previous weekend and ensured they have now won five of their last seven games in all competitions.

Glasgow, on the other hand, have not won since November – Friday's postponed clash with Benetton Treviso followed back-to-back European defeats to Cardiff Blues.

And Townsend is expecting to be met by a confident Edinburgh side at Murrayfield on Boxing Day.

"Nothing but our best is going to do," he told the Glasgow Evening Times.

"There is no doubt that Edinburgh will take a huge lift from their victory over Leinster.

"The fact they have backed up their win at Gloucester in the Heineken Cup with a win of this quality and the momentum they have been building at home recently will make them very dangerous on Boxing Day."

And to make matters worse, Friday's washout leaves the Warriors short of match fitness ahead of Thursday – though Townsend admitted there is an up-side.

"From our point of view there is now a prolonged period of inactivity and that is not ideal," he added.

"But there is one huge positive from the Treviso game being called off and that is we haven't picked up anymore injuries."