Preview: Edinburgh v Connacht

Edinburgh Mike Blair may be forced to wait to play his first competitive game of the season after picking up a throat infection.

Scotland captain Mike Blair may be forced to miss Friday's clash with Connacht after picking up a throat infection.

B&I Lions scrum-half Blair was on Wednesday provisionally named on the replacements bench for the Magners League fixture, which would be his first appearance of the 2009/10 season.

If the 28-year-old fails to recover, his spot in the number 20 jersey will be taken by Scotland U20 star Ross Samson.

Head Coach Rob Moffat has surprisingly opted to axe wing Tim Visser, who marked his debut in last Friday's 22-21 win at Cardiff with a try.

Andrew Turnbull replaces the Dutchman in the only change to the starting XV who got Edinburgh's season off to a winning start.

Hooker Ross Ford has been named among the replacements and, like Blair, the 25-year-old could make his first competitive appearance since featuring for the Lions during the third Test victory against South Africa in Johannesburg two months ago.

“I'm really excited to be back in the squad for Friday's match,” said Ford.

“I've now had four weeks of pre-season training, so I feel fresh and I'm looking forward to getting back into it.

“Last week's win at Cardiff was an excellent result and now hopefully I'll be able to help the team build on that against Connacht.”

Also on the bench is back-row forward Scott Newlands, who returns after three months out with a bicep injury.

Summer recruit Steve Jones is involved in the squad for the first time since his move from Newcastle.

Meanwhile, Connacht have made three injured enforced changes as they look to respond to last week's opening defeat at the Sportsground.

Centre Niva Ta'auso (hand), props Brett Wilkinson (finger) and Robbie Morris (back) have all been sidelined for this Magners League clash.

In come Troy Nathan, Jamie Hagan and Ronan Loughney as replacements as the Irish province look to add to their losing bonus point against the Ospreys.

Form: Edinburgh continued where they left off last season in securing a seventh successive Magners League victory at Cardiff Blues last Friday…already a record run for a Scottish team. The capital side have won eight in a row in the league at Murrayfield since Munster won there, 20-15, on 5 September 2008. Connacht's most recent Magners League victory was 39-17 at home to Newport Gwent Dragons on 3 April, whilst the Irishmen have not won in Scotland since a 29-15 victory at the now defunct Border Reivers on 1 September 2006. Edinburgh are unbeaten in their last eight clashes with Connacht, although the sequence has included two draws. Connacht's last win over Edinburgh was 16-13 at Murrayfield on 4 March 2005.

The teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Mark Robertson, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 John Houston, 11 Andrew Turnbull, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Allister Hogg (capt), 7 Roddy Grant, 6 Alan MacDonald, 5 Scott MacLeod, 4 Craig Hamilton, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Fraser McKenzie, 19 Scott Newlands, 20 Mike Blair/Ross Samson, 21 Steve Jones, 22 Nick De Luca.

Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy, 14 Brian Tuohy, 13 Troy Nathan, 12 Keith Matthews, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 Mike McComish, 7 Ray Ofisa, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Bernie Upton, 4 Andrew Browne, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Ronan Loughney.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Conor Higgins, 18 Mike McCarthy, 19 Johnny O'Connor, 20 Miah Nikora, 21 Conor O'Loughlin, 22 Aidan Wynne.

Date: Friday, September 11
Kick-off: 19:30 BST
Venue: Murrayfield
Referee: James Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Neil Paterson (Scotland), Alan Forrest (Scotland)
Assessor: Andy Clift (Scotland)