Dragons v Edinburgh: Teams

Acting Dragons coach Darren Edwards has opted to rest Martyn Thomas for the visit of Edinburgh.

The full-back has a slight hamstring strain, with Edwards deciding against risking him.

"Martyn could possibly have played at a push," said Edwards, who has replaced Paul Turner as head coach until the end of the season.

"But we felt that it is important for him to be back long-term and at the moment we don't feel it's in his best interests to take any unnecessary risks.

"Competition for selection has been intense this week, and hopefully that'll be reflected in a strong performance.

"We're hoping to take our LV Cup form back into our Magners League campaign. We're at home this week but then we have three games on the road against Aironi, Glasgow and Munster.

"If we can come out on top in the next few fixtures we'll be in a strong position in the League going into the last part of the season."

Opportunity

Edinburgh's interim head coach Nick Scrivener is looking for a victory against the Dragons to kick-start his side's title challenge.

"It's a crucial time in the season for us, and the players need to remember that our destiny is very much in our own hands," said Scrivener.

"Our away form this season has not been good, but we now have a fantastic opportunity to confront that head on and put down a marker against the Dragons.

"The big focus this week has been tightening up all areas of our game, and letting it be known that we're looking to the players, and especially our leaders, to take charge at crucial times on the field and make sure everyone knows what we're doing, why and when."

Scrivener has made 11 changes in his first selection, although he is without internationals Scott MacLeod, Nick De Luca, Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, Mike Blair and Ross Rennie.

Dragons:15 Will Harries, 14 Adam Hughes, 13 Matthew Watkins, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Lewis Evans, 6 Andrew Coombs, 5 Scott Morgan, 4 Rob Sidoli, 3 Dan Way, 2 Tom Willis, 1 Phil Price.
Replacements (from): Hugh Gustafson, Lloyd Burns, Pat Palmer, Andrew Brown, Hugo Ellis, Pat Leach, Mike Petri, Matthew Jones,

Edinburgh:15 Chris Paterson, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 John Houston, 11 Tim Visser, 10 David Blair, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Netani Talei, 7 Alan MacDonald, 6 Stuart McInally, 5 Fraser McKenzie, 4 Craig Hamilton, 3 Geoff Cross 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements:16 Alun Walker, 17 Lewis Niven, 18 David Young, 19 Esteban Lozada, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 James King, 22 Simon Webster, 23 Jim Thompson.