Gordon Ross returns to confront shadow Edinburgh side

Not today, though, as Ross Ford and David Denton, two of their current Scotland caps, have become the latest to fall foul of the hoodoo sign that seems to be hanging over the club.

As a result, even the return of former favourite Gordon Ross to his old stomping ground as captain of the opposition is overshadowed by the missing players, with Alan Solomons, the head coach, acknowledging that he has never seen anything to match the scale of the problem in more than 30 years of coaching all round the world.

Fortunately for him, it does not look as though Ford, whose back went into spasm, or Denton, who damaged a shoulder, are doubts for the long term; Solomons was even hoping they might both be back in action as early as next week.

However, four Edinburgh forwards played some role in the recent Scotland games and all four are out injured. Also Hamish Watson, the flanker, and Allan Dell, the prop, who had been invited to train with the national squad with a view to getting them involved some time soon, are also among the 13 frontline players getting medical treatment.

The result is that if you look at the pack, only Mike Coman, the captain and flanker, and Willem Nel at tighthead prop could be considered first-choice players. In the back row, the position is so dire that Solomons has had to put the project to convert Stuart McInally to hooker on hold for a few days and ask him to provide cover for the back row from the bench as he undertakes his first game for the club since Solomons took over 16 months ago.

Fortunately for those who have not succumbed to the curse, Edinburgh are up against a team who have not won a match since winning promotion to the Premiership in England, and have already conceded more than 50 points at home to Bordeaux, a side beaten by Edinburgh in France.

There is an opportunity then for the capital side to salvage something from the season, just as they did in 2011/12 when a dreadful league campaign was overshadowed by their run to the Heineken Cup semi-final. This may be a lower-grade tournament but after having won both opening matches, a double over London Welsh would set Edinburgh on their way back to knockout rugby, with all the kudos that would bring.

Not if Ross has his way, though. At 36 he definitively counts as a veteran but, 12 years after leaving Edinburgh en route to Leeds, Castres, Saracens and now London Welsh, he has his eyes set on a breakthrough win for his team and as long-term Edinburgh fans remember, few players have been better tacticians when it comes to manoeuvring opponents around Murrayfield.

To make the occasion even more emotional, Ross has managed to secure the chance for his two nephews to run out as mascots with him at a ground he last trod when he helped Scotland beat England in 2006.

"Any time, at any level, that you beat England is always quite enjoyable. It was a good year,?? he said. ??We??d struggled the year before and then Frank Hadden came in as coach and gave the whole squad a boost and a bit more freedom with the way we played. We finished third by winning three games, so it was a great achievement.

??It??s a fantastic stadium and I??ve a lot of good memories there. I??m not sure there??ll be as many people there this weekend as there were in 2006, but it??s an opportunity for some of our guys to play in an international stadium. It will be nice to run out with the family there but, more importantly, it will be a good day for my little nephews.??

For all that, and even with Edinburgh's injuries, if the hosts turn up with any sort of intent they should win with something to spare.

"If we want to keep alive our hopes in Europe, we have to win this weekend," Solomons said. "Every game is [a potential banana skin]. It is about performance, you have to get it right.

"If our performance was spot on we would have won that last game against Zebre. The set piece was a major issue, there is no doubt about that. We got some roughies in terms of decisions but we had our opportunities and in the second half were pretty dominant.

"Stevie Scott, the forwards coach, has worked really hard on the scrum this week, because that is a key aspect of things, and the boys in the front five get another opportunity to show what they can do.

"I know our front five this week is determined to put on a good show and I am sure they will."

Behind the scrum, you would expect things to be starting to come together. Matt Scott has had a couple of games back after his long-term injury and is looking to start dominating games the way he was before he dislocated his shoulder while the whole unit is starting to have a settled look, with Grayson Hart's receipt of his first start of the season at scrum half the only change.

If the forwards can provide possession, and the jinx can be kept at bay, Edinburgh are confident they will score and the European adventure will roll on to Oxford next week.

Edinburgh: N McLennan; D Fife, M Scott, A Strauss, T Visser; T Heathcote, G Hart; R Sutherland, J Hilterbrand, WP Nel, O Atkins, B Toolis, T Leonardi, R Grant, M Coman (capt).

Replacements: N Cochrane, G Shiells, J Andress, A Bresler, S McInally, S Hidalgo-Clyne, G Tonks, S Beard.

London Welsh: E Kear; R Crane, N Reynolds, A Awcock, C Elder; G Ross (capt), P Rowley; E Aholelei, N Vella, B Cooper, J McNally, M Corker, B West, C Kirwin, B Pienaar. Replacements: N Morris, S Cahill, J Gilding, D Browne, L McCaffrey, R Lewis, N Scott, T May.

Referee: Cedric Marchat (France).