Graeme Morrison will make his first start for Glasgow since October when the Warriors host Italian side Treviso at Scotstoun Stadium on Friday.
Morrison, back to full fitness after rehabilitation on a knee injury, made a substitute appearance in the Heineken Cup against Castres at the start of December and will form part of a reshuffled back line from last week's win away at Edinburgh.
One of four changes to the starting XV in total, he lines up alongside Alex Dunbar, who is also making his return from injury. Tommy Seymour is restored to the wing in place of Sean Maitland while Stuart Hogg retains his place at full-back.
Ruaridh Jackson starts at fly-half for the fourth game in a row, with Henry Pyrgos partnering him.
DTH van der Merwe, who became the club's leading league try-scorer with a double against Edinburgh at Scotstoun, keeps his spot at 11.
With back-to-back wins against Edinburgh in the bag, Warriors are looking to make it three in a row against a Treviso side who are on a winning run having triumphed twice in their own local derby against Zebre over the festive period.
"It's fantastic to have Graeme and Alex back for selection and it gives us yet more options in the midfield to add to an already deep list of talent," said head coach Gregor Townsend.
"Alex was in fine form until he suffered his injury and it will be great to see him getting back to that level of performance.
"Everyone knows exactly what kind of influence Graeme can have on a match and against a tough side like Treviso, it's great to have someone of his experience at inside-centre.
"The selection this week again highlights the quality available to us as coaches and the fact that even with three changes to the back-line, it's still a very strong line-up."
There are minimal changes in the pack, with the heavy-hitting back row of Rob Harley, Josh Strauss and last week's man of the match, Ryan Wilson, again reunited.
In the second row, Tim Swinson comes in for Tom Ryder to partner captain Al Kellock. Ryan Grant, Doug Hall and Moray Low, hugely impressive in the scrum against Edinburgh, will again pack down together for the tough Treviso test.
Meanwhile, Treviso have named Edoardo Gori at scrum-half while Andrea Pratichetti is on the left wing. In the pack Corniel Van Zyl, Michele Rizzo and Lorenzo Cittadini start, while Manoa Vosawai is back as flanker.
Form: Glasgow have won eight of their last ten matches in the RaboDirect PRO12, whilst their solo defeat at Scotstoun in their last five matches in the PRO12 was to Leinster in round nine. The Warriors have won their last five fixtures against Italian opponents. Treviso have won their last three PRO12 games - their best run for twelve months. Treviso have already won in Scotland this season, beating Edinburgh 27-22 at Murrayfield on 5 October. Interestingly, the last three meetings between the two sides have all been won by the away side on the day. Warriors have won their last two games against Treviso,
The teams:
Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 DTH Van der Merwe, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Rob Harley, 6 Josh Strauss, 5 Al Kellock (c), 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Moray Low, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 German Araoz, 19 Tom Ryder, 20 James Eddie, 21 Nico Matawalu, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Peter Murchie.
Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Christian Loamanu, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Andrea Pratichetti, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Manoa Vosawai, 5 Corniel Van Zyl, 4 Francesco Minto, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (capt), 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Alberto De Marchi, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Dean Budd, 21 Simone Favaro, 22 Tobias Botes, 23 Alberto Di Bernardo.
Date: Friday, January 4
Kick-off: 19:30
Venue: Scotstoun Stadium
Referee: Leo Colgan
Assistant Referees: David Changleng, Graeme Marshall
Citing Commissioner: Peter Brown
Comments
Lucasrg says...
Both teams really looking forward for this one. Hopefully another great performance will seriously put in danger Glasgow, Treviso could even win this one. they will put a real test for the Scottish scrum.
Wish I could see the game, but, sadly, work interferes the schedule :(
Posted 22:22 03rd January 2013
atg77 says...
I imagine Maitland is being rested, Glasgow must be pretty confident of victory. Still can't beleive Hogg isn't at outside centre... definately where he could be most dangerous.
Posted 14:40 03rd January 2013