EDINBURGH’s form in the PRO12 may have been patchy at best this season, but, as they prepare for the visit of Stade Francais in the Challenge Cup tonight, they can remind themselves that two of their best performances in recent months have come in the European competition.

The win over Timisoara Saracens was expected, but for a team who have lost at home to Zebre for the first time ever in the league, the trip to Romania was still a potentially awkward obstacle which they overcame with aplomb. And that victory was followed up by an impressive win at home to Harlequins, which has ensured that Duncan Hodge’s team go into today’s game on top of their pool.

The other reassuring factor for the squad as they face up to the visit of the Frenchmen, of course, is the return of some of their most important players. While the likes of openside Hamish Watson have been away on Scotland duty, Alasdair Dickinson is back after a lengthy absence through injury, and, while he will not be expected to play the whole game after so long on the sidelines, his experience in the front row could be crucial against a team who like nothing better than to steamroller their opponents up front.

“The squad is starting to look stronger because we’ve got a couple of guys back, in terms of Dicko, and Simon Berghan on the bench, so that’s been positive for us,” Edinburgh coach Duncan Hodge said. “That’s no reflection on how Allan Dell has played, because he’s been absolutely magnificent for us, but by starting Dicko it allows us to manage his game time because if you do it the other way around it’d be tough considering he’s been out for a long time.

“It’s always good to have someone with that experience and knowledge, in terms of leading the other guys, but also just in terms of having him on the pitch. It’s a big ask for him – he’s not played since the Japan game, which was five and a half months ago. It’s a big break for him but he’s worked hard. The last six weeks has been very frustrating for him. A lot of people thought he was almost there and then little things held him back.”

Another potentially significant selection is at scrum-half, where Sam Hidalgo-Clyne starts after a frustrating spell in which he has not been given the run of games he needs to have a chance of reclaiming the form that saw him capped by Scotland. “He needs some rugby,” Hodge said. “He’s trained really well, but it’s a really hard situation with three No 9s. Sam played well last week against a big, physical team so we need to provide some different threats as well.

“Nathan Fowles is unlucky as well because he started the season really well. Sean [Kennedy, who is on the bench] has done really well, but for this game Sam and Duncy [Weir] are the pairing we’re going to go with.”

That half-back combination will need to be on top of their game to get the better of Will Genia, the Wallabies captain, and South African stand-off Morne Steyn. If the Stade pack do become dominant, those two will have the time and space they need to dictate proceedings.

“They’ve got some huge guys playing at their club,” Hodge said of the opposition. “They’re certainly a big physical team and they’ve got some great outside backs as well. They look to use their forwards and they like to give their outside backs some ball as well. We want to influence that, because how we play definitely determines how they play, and that’s important for us.”

The other important factor is that Edinburgh as a squad rise to the occasion. Hodge is convinced that they have played a lot of good rugby over the past month or two along with some substandard stuff, and has called on his players to ensure they become more consistent.

“Deep down hopefully they can see there’s a lot of good stuff in there. It’s not a question of how good we can be - bits of defence, bits of forward play have been good.

“It’s making and keeping that level and not being so inconsistent. It’s ironing out the other stuff we need to improve.

“It’s just something we have to keep addressing and get better at. At this level you don’t see any team win every game during the season. It’s all about consistency of performance.

“We have to give yourselves a better shot, how we address the game, how we adapt on the pitch. Even when things are going wrong we need to give ourselves a better chance of winning games of rugby.”

Edinburgh (v Stade Francais at Murrayfield, tonight, 7.45pm): B Kinghorn; D Hoyland, M Allen, P Burleigh, W Helu; D Weir, S Hidalgo-Clyne; A Dickinson, S McInally, M McCallum, B Toolis, G Gilchrist, V Mata, H Watson, M Bradbury. Substitutes: R Ford, A Dell, S Berghan, F McKenzie, C du Preez, S Kennedy, J Tovey, G Bryce.

Stade Francais: J Sinzelle; J Arias, W Vuidarvuwalu, P Williams, J Raisuqe; M Steyn, W Genia; H van der Merwe, L Panis, G Melikidze, P Gabrillagues, P Papé, S Macalou, M de Giovanni, W Alberts. Substitutes: R Bonfils, Z Zhvania, E Felsina, H Pyle, P Sio, C Daguin, J Plisson, T Millet.