VERN Cotter is confronted by two very different problems as he looks ahead to next week’s trip to Italy. One is the list of players who were injured in the weekend defeat by Wales and are thus a doubt for the next game: the other is the potential availability of several players who have missed out on the Six Nations Championship so far. The more the first list diminishes and the latter grows over the coming days, the better chance the head coach will have of addressing his key difficulty - the lack of strength in depth in his squad.

Stuart Hogg was passed fit on Sunday, the day after the 27-23 loss in Cardiff, in which he had to come off during the first half with a back problem. Richie Gray was also recovering well by then from a sprained ankle. That left Tommy Seymour, who also sprained an ankle, and the concussed Blair Cowan on the treatment table along with Sean Maitland, who dropped out of the squad on Friday with a thigh injury.

The main difficulty there would be if both Seymour and Maitland were to be ruled out of the Rome match, depriving Cotter of his two first-choice wingers. Sean Lamont would be an obvious choice for one wing, as he was on Saturday when he was drafted in to replace Maitland.

Tim Visser is a possibility for the other, having played the full game for Harlequins against Gloucester at the weekend. The only real alternative would be to move Duncan Taylor, who has played well for Saracens on the wing in recent weeks, but was outstanding in both defence and attack as a centre for Scotland against Wales.

The prospect of moving Taylor becomes more feasible if Matt Scott is passed fit after sustaining a slight thigh-muscle tear in training last week. Scott would have started in the centre against Wales alongside Mark Bennett, so could easily slot back in. But it would still be a big call to displace Taylor, who was Scotland’s best performer along with Seymour at the Principality Stadium.

Cotter said on Saturday night that Peter Horne could also be available next week, which would further expand his options at centre. If others are fit, the Glasgow back is unlikely to make the matchday 23 on this occasion, but his performances in the World Cup will ensure he comes back into the reckoning soon.

The other two players said by Cotter to be potentially available were Josh Strauss and Grant Gilchrist. The Edinburgh lock is likely to be given more time to complete his return to full fitness, but Strauss could come into the reckoning and would compensate for Cowan if the latter were ruled out.

Against both England and Wales, Cowan came on for John Barclay at No 6. Strauss can play 6 or 8, as can David Denton, even though neither man would fulfill Cotter’s preference for a two-sevens approach on the flanks.

If Seymour, Maitland, Scott and Cowan are passed fit, and if Visser, Horne, Strauss and Gilchrist are back in the running, Cotter will have some real competition for places. He will also have an option that has been missing so far from his selections - the genuine possibility that one of his substitutes will make a bigger contribution to the man who kept him out of the starting line-up.

When people label Scotland as a second-half team, they tend to look at the fact that fewer points are scored by them after the break - only three fewer on Saturday, but a bigger margin in some recent Six Nations games. This is often interpreted as a fitness issue, when in fact it is caused by the relative weakness of the bench.

Look at the eight substitutes from Saturday. In the front row, Gordon Reid and Zander Fagerson are some way behind the incumbent props, Alasdair Dickinson and WP Nel. Stuart McInally is closer to competing with Ross Ford at hooker, but it would still be a big call by Cotter to break up Edinburgh’s first-choice front row.

Tim Swinson is the third-choice lock behind the Gray brothers, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne is well behind Greig Laidlaw at scrum-half, and the same goes for Duncan Weir and Ruaridh Jackson at stand-off and full-back respectively. Even Cowan, who has been preferred to Barclay until recently, does not provide a real game-changing impetus when coming off the bench.

The situation is particularly acute among the backs. Weir replaced Russell at the weekend, but is best used to close a game out, not when Scotland are points down with time running out. Hidalgo-Clyne is faster than Laidlaw but lacks the latter’s experience and leadership, and Jackson, while used as a full-back replacement, is still essentially a stand-off.

If Maitland starts on the wing he can cover full-back, with Taylor covering for him either from centre or from the bench. Scott would then either start alongside Bennett or be cover for Taylor.

That would at least allow for a bigger impact off the bench than we have seen so far from the backs. And until we unearth another outside centre with something close to Bennett’s attacking verve, that is possibly the single biggest improvement we can hope for.