'We've got a list of 14 players unavailable to us at the moment and a chunk of those are internationalists'

Danny Wilson admits there may be more short-term pain in store for injury-hit Glasgow but the Warriors coach is convinced long-term gains lie ahead.

Little has gone right for Wilson since he replaced Dave Rennie at Scotstoun in the summer and there was a fresh blow this week when the club was given a triple-whammy on the fitness front.

Scotland internationals Fraser Brown and George Horne have both been ruled out of the Guinness Six Nations while prop Alex Allan’s season is over.

That was the last thing Wilson needed with almost a full team of players currently unavailable for Saturday’s PRO14 derby clash with Edinburgh at Murrayfield.

Glasgow were pummelled 42-0 by European champions Exeter in their last outing before a Covid-19 outbreak forced the cancellation of two fixtures and Wilson admits there may be some more damaging days ahead for the youngsters he is now being forced to rely upon.

But he reckons that will only make it easier for him to sort the men from the boys.

“We’ve got a list of 14 players unavailable to us at the moment and a chunk of those are internationalists,” said Wilson.

“But at the same time it presents an opportunity for a few others. I still think we’ve got a strong team going out on paper.

“Youngsters like George Thornton, Ross Thompson and Jamie Dobbie will experience a derby away from home on Saturday. That’s great for the future.

“There’s positives but yeah we’d like to have those injured guys available.

“Has this season been harder than I could have envisioned? Yeah, that’s an understatement really.

“The landscape has changed quite dramatically but we have got to be positive about that and see it as an opportunity to try to develop a bit of depth.

“That might be painful a bit at times this season – but the long-term is we’ll find out about some players, whether that’s good news or if they’re not quite at this level. We’ll be able to make the decisions and hopefully unearth some hidden stars.

“As painful as it can be at times, there’s some real pluses in there for the future.”

Wilson – whose side have won just two of their eight league fixtures so far – saw his problems continue to pile up last month when stand-off Adam Hastings announced he was joining Gloucester at the end of the season.

But Scotland lock Scott Cummings has pledged his future to Glasgow this week and Wilson vowed the club is working hard to replace the star names who have departed in recent seasons.

“Glasgow is a big club but we’ve had some highs and lows like any club,” he said.

“I still think it will be an attractive club. We’ve gone through a little bit of a low this season but there is plenty of reason why we can lure players for the future.

“Obviously finances dictate and we will cut our cloth accordingly but we certainly have lots to sell to players coming to Glasgow.

“There are plenty of good conversations going on as we speak.”

There is some good news for Wilson with Richie Gray free of concussion and the former British and Irish Lion’s return is among five changes to the starting line-up swept aside by Exeter.

The Welshman added: “With the Covid situation, it’s been a strange old end to 2020. But moving into the new year, we’ve got a great game to play on Saturday.

“Edinburgh will be favourites at home having picked a near full-strength team but we see it as a great challenge and also a great scalp to take.”