While some of his players have admitted they are desperate to save their Six Nations blushes and avoid a championship whitewash when they take on Ireland at BT Murrayfield tomorrow, Scotland head coach Vern Cotter has suggested that he is relatively relaxed about results so long as he sees signs of progress in the side.

Bookmakers have given the Scots little chance against the Irish, currently rated the third-best side in the world, who will probably need a hefty win if they are to hold on to the Six Nations title they won last year and see off the challenges of Wales and England, who take on Italy and France in a championship climax that has been dubbed 'Super Saturday'.

Cotter yesterday named a team for the Ireland clash that shows two changes to the one he sent out against England at Twickenham last weekend. Glasgow's Ryan Grant takes over from Edinburgh's Alasdair Dickinson at loosehead prop, while Adam Ashe, also of Glasgow, has been preferred to his clubmate Rob Harley on the blindside flank.

Dickinson suffered a leg injury in the 25-13 loss to England and the fact his training has been limited (although he is expected to be fully fit tomorrow) led to Grant being given the nod. Harley has been outstanding in defence for Scotland recently, but Cotter seems to prefer the ball-handling and lineout skills Ashe can bring.

Dickinson and Harley have been named among the substitutes. There is one other change there, with taking over from Johnnie Beattie as the Scots revert to a conventional 5/3 split of forwards and backs on the bench. Overall, Cotter expressed relief that all the players who picked up knocks last week had come through rehab successfully.

However, in putting the emphasis on development, Cotter struck a note that carried uncomfortable echoes of the 'jam tomorrow' themes adopted by some of his predecessors. Scott Johnson, who stepped aside as caretaker coach when Cotter arrived, claimed that his primary aim was to bring players up to Test standard and handed out first caps like confetti, which begs a question of why Scotland still seem stuck in that part of the evolutionary cycle.

"We're looking long term," said Cotter. "We're looking at how the group is moving forward and developing. We're looking at the World Cup. A lot of these other teams have spent more time together, had more experience together. Ireland is one of them. Their preparations are perhaps slightly ahead of us at the minute, through the time they've spent together.

"But although it's frustrating not to get the results in this Six Nations - and I'm most frustrated for the players because they haven't been able to validate the improvements in their game with a victory - the real focus is performing well. We've seen that there are things we can control and things we can't. If we focus on the things we can control, and get better at them, then that will help."

In fairness, few would suggest that Scotland have made considerable improvements over the past year. Their average losing margin last year was almost 25 points; this year's figure is just six. On top of which, Cotter said he was happy with the spirit within the squad and said that it was a firm foundation for the future.

Cotter said: "Scramble defence is always a good indicator of culture and team spirit - and the guys did well to get out of some unfortunate situations [against England] and turn them into positives.

"I think there are undeniably strong signs of identity and solidarity within the group. That is the most important thing. That and the awareness of needing to improve.

"The players have shown they're able to adapt and improve on certain things. That's a positive.

I've enjoyed working with these guys, they're a good group of guys, some of them just starting their international careers. It's good to be part of that dynamic."