A COUPLE of weeks ago, Edinburgh would have been cast in the role of whipping boys in tonight’s 1872 Cup match at Scotstoun. Having strung together a run of nine defeats in all competitions, they might have been expected to turn up in body if not necessarily in spirit, and do the dutiful thing by fulfilling the role of hapless, doomed opponents.

But the capital club’s win over the Dragons last weekend, allied to an extent with Glasgow Warriors’ inability to hit top form, has given this game a more even look. True, on home turf – a surface, moreover, on which Edinburgh have yet to play – Gregor Townsend’s team will be favourites to win the game. And certainly, with a 25-13 advantage from the first leg at Murrayfield, Glasgow should win the trophy on aggregate. Yet the character shown by Edinburgh in their dramatic comeback last Friday night at least suggests that the Warriors will have to fight all the way if they are to emerge on top.

Edinburgh had fought back from big deficits before their 24-20 triumph over the Dragons, but they had invariably fallen just short. Last week, by contrast, they timed their recovery to perfection, scoring the winning try – their third in the closing eight minutes – with the last play of the game. And, just as impressively, they showed perfect poise to get that score, refusing to panic as they went through phase after phase, from close to their own goal line to over the opposition’s.

The victory not only brought relief that a long losing streak had been ended, it also provided timely reassurance to Edinburgh that they were capable, after all, of being a decent team. And even allowing for the fact that Glasgow are more formidable opponents than the Dragons, it was a result which will give the team from the capital confidence as they bid to end a difficult season on a high note.

“It's tough,” scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne admitted when asked how to beat Glasgow. “But what we showed in the last 10 minutes of our last game proved that we can score tries quickly. The guys just need to believe in themselves.

“If we don't kick the ball away and keep it in hand we can play some good rugby. It’s going to be a very physical game. We have to approach it very carefully and not make the errors we’ve been making throughout the season.

“We still have a chance of retaining the 1872 Cup, which is a big ask away from home. But we've done it before and we can do it again.”

This will be the last time Edinburgh have Duncan Hodge as their acting head coach before Richard Cockerill takes over in the close season, but for the Glasgow fans the occasion will be about saying goodbye to their head coach, Gregor Townsend, and to some of the players. Hidalgo-Clyne insisted, however, that he and his team-mates would resist any temptation to get caught up in the emotion of the match, and would concentrate on their own game and performing as efficiently as they could.

“Gregor is moving to the Scotland job: he's not leaving the country. He’s still going to have a big influence on the players, at Glasgow and Edinburgh and Scotland. For me, it's a case of what we do on our side of the country and not what they’re doing. “It's about our players, our coaching staff and fans at the moment. We need to make sure we’re on the right track and are not living in the shadows of them.

“You want to win; you want to get silverware as well. You want to finish the season on a high. There are different personnel, different coaching staff for the new season.

“The way this season has gone, we as players know we’re a lot better than the results we’ve had. We need to sort that out for next season.”

Townsend has said that, for a few players, the game could amount to a trial for a place on Scotland’s summer tour to Australia, but Hidalgo-Clyne believes he cannot afford to indulge in such hopes. Having fallen steadily down the pecking order in the past couple of seasons, behind rivals such as Warriors scrum-half Ali Price, the 23-year-old is convinced his priority has to be to secure the Edinburgh No 9 jersey first.

“If I play well, then you never know what might come on the back of it, but at the moment I'm just focused on this game and trying to get a win for the club, trying to get one up on the opposition. First and foremost I'm just trying to play well for Edinburgh. I'm dying to get back into the Scotland set-up. If that chance comes then hopefully I can take it.”