EDINBURGH face an uphill battle to get into the top half of the PRO12 - and if they are going to succeed, they will have to do so without John Hardie. The Scotland openside has been left out of the squad to play Cardiff in today’s final league match, with head coach Alan Solomons having decided he is too fatigued after playing two seasons with little in the way of a break.

Currently eighth, Edinburgh need to beat their Welsh opponents with a bonus point to have any chance of getting into the top six and qualifying for the European Champions Cup next season. If they do that, they will also then need Munster to lose to the Scarlets, and the Ospreys to fail to beat Ulster. Lose to the Blues and they will finish ninth, a place lower than they have come in the last two seasons.

Solomons has quality back-up for Hardie in the shape of Hamish Watson, but his omission of one of the country’s most consistent performers still comes as a surprise. “John came straight from Super Rugby to Scotland ahead of the World Cup,” Solomons said. “He's had back-to back seasons, including a World Cup and a Six Nations.

“He could play, he's available, but he's struggling with the amount of rugby he's played, I think. Hamish is playing well. Looking at it over the last couple of games, the decision is Hamish deserves his spot.”

The fact that Edinburgh have earned only two bonus points this season for scoring four or more tries does not augur well for today’s game. As ever, Solomons’ approach will be to try to secure victory first, and then see if the bonus point is on. “We're up against a very good side with the best attack record in the league, so we need to first win the game then look for the bonus point,” he said, before agreeing that claiming that upper-half finish will be no easy task.

“It will be very tough, because you have to depend on results going your way as well as our own game against Cardiff. This league has become exceptionally tough. There are nine sides who can all beat each other.”

After a campaign in which they have at least keep their hopes alive going into the final round of fixtures, there is no denying that failure to reach the top six will be a severe disappointment for Edinburgh. But Solomons insisted that, whatever happens today, improvements have been made over the season.

“With a game to go we’re 11 points off a play-off spot. In my first season we were 32 points off. In the second season 21. The league has become very competitive, which is a positive thing. I think we've made progress.

“For us to say we have attained what we want to attain we would have to have made the top six. That's the key for us.”

Dougie Fife will play his last game for Edinburgh at full-back after Blair Kinghorn was ruled out with a head knock. Centres Matt Scott and Andries Strauss are also playing their last games before moving on, while John Andress and Alex Toolis could come off the bench for their final appearances. Nasi Manu comes in at blindside for his first game of the year, and Rory Sutherland takes over at loosehead prop from the injured Alasdair Dickinson.

While those players aim for a winning farewell, Watson hopes that he can make the most of the chance to show how effective he can be in the No 7 jersey. “I’ve got the nod and hopefully I can play well and make the most of the opportunity, he said. “John has been playing well, but if you can get the nod on him at club level, that’s got to take note from higher up at international level.

“It’s been a long season, but we’re still pretty motivated. We’ve got that outside shot of making the top six. It’s out of our hands, but all we can focus on is trying to get that bonus point and giving ourselves the best opportunity. There’s a lot of pride at stake, a lot of boys are leaving, so there’s a lot to play for still.”

Edinburgh (v Cardiff at Murrayfield, today 3pm): D Fife; D Hoyland, M Scott, A Strauss, T Brown; J Tovey, S Kennedy; R Sutherland, R Ford, W Nel, A Bresler, B Toolis, N Manu, H Watson, C du Preez. Substitutes: S McInally, A Dell, J Andress, A Toolis, M Bradbury, S Hidalgo-Clyne, C Dean, W Helu.

Cardiff Blues: D Fish; A Summerhill, G Smith, R Lee-Lo, T James; G Anscombe, L Williams; G Jenkins, M Rees, T Filise, C Dolan, J Down, J Turnbull, E Jenkins, J Navidi. Substitutes: K Dacey, B Thyer, S Andrews, L Reed, M Cook, T Williams, J Evans, G Evans.