Cardiff v Glasgow: Teams

The Cardiff Blues host the Glasgow Warriors on Saturday looking to bounce back from last weekend's Magners League defeat to Ulster.

The loss to the Ulsterman was only Cardiff's third of the season but their second successive home defeat in the competition, and head coach Dai Young is well aware that Glasgow will be looking to add to that run of defeats.

"The loss, and the manner of the loss against Ulster was hugely disappointing but we now have to dust ourselves off and face a Glasgow side, who, when they have got their full squad playing, are a very exciting team to watch, and a very difficult team to beat," Young told the team's official website.

"Glasgow probably feel it's the right time to come to Cardiff and it's up to our players to respond and fight for the full eighty minutes which is something I don't think we've done all season."

"Saturday's result is massive for us. If we want to be in the top four at the end of the season we can't afford to keep dropping points at home."

The Blues' back three undergoes a reshuffle in the wake of Tom James' call-up to the Wales squad, with Dan Fish coming in at full-back and Chris Czekaj switching to the wing.

New Zealander Xavier Rush has recovered from a neck injury and will take his place at the back of the scrum, meaning that Andries Pretorius moves to the flank where he is joined by Maama Molitika.

Regular flanker Michael Paterson joins the second row to cover for the injured James Down.

Decimated

For the Warriors, Chris Cusiter (knee), Johnnie Beattie (shoulder), James Eddie (shoulder) and Duncan Weir (shoulder), are all long-term absentee, while DTH van der Merwe will miss the trip to Cardiff as a result of a facial injury suffered while playing for Canada.

With so many players not in contention, Warriors head coach Sean Lineen has called on his men to rise to the challenge against Cardiff.

"The players that have been here have been training incredibly hard the last couple of weeks and we're looking forward to the game against Cardiff," Lineen told the team's official website.

"For us, it is about consistency. Our last outing was a good bonus point win over Aironi so we go down to Cardiff knowing what to expect.

"It's a challenging season, so with 13 players unavailable for selection due to various reasons, this represents a massive opportunity for those named today. It's at times like these when you find out what these guys are made of."

Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Tom Slater, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Maama Molitika, 6 Andries Pretorius, 5 Paul Tito (capt), 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Taufa'ao Filise
Replacements: 16 Gareth Williams 17 Tom Davies 18 Sam Hobbs 19 Bryn Griffiths 20 Ben White 21 Tom Rowlands 22 Owen Williams 23 Gavin Evans

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Hefin O'Hare, 13 Federico Aramburu, 12 Peter Murchie, 11 Colin Shaw,10 Colin Gregor, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Calum Forrester, 6 Robert Harley, 5 Alastair Kellock (capt), 4 Aly Muldowney, 3 Ed Kalman, 2 Fergus Thomson, 1 Jon Welsh
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Kevin Tkachuk, 19 Paul Burke, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Peter Horne, 22 Rob Dewey, 23 Alex Dunbar