Neil Cochrane, the Edinburgh hooker, hopes he and a handful of other players have given the head coach Alan Solomons some pleasant selection issues for once.

Neil Cochrane, the Edinburgh hooker, hopes he and a handful of other players have given the head coach Alan Solomons some pleasant selection issues for once.

All season, Solomons has had to deal with a lengthy list of injuries to key men and, while there are still a number of players on the physios' table, the performances from fringe men Cochrane, John Andress, Stuart McInally and Greig Tonks have given him something to think about.

They all made an impact after coming off the bench on Sunday to spark Edinburgh into life and help them secure a 25-13 European Challenge Cup victory over London Welsh at BT Murrayfield.

Cochrane said: ??In the last 20 minutes, we upped the pace of the game and, hopefully, myself and the other replacements managed to help with that. Being behind in any match is never where you want to be, but we were not worried at half-time. There is no point in getting frustrated in those situations and we just regrouped at the break. We knew that if we kept the ball in hand and worked through the phases that we could tire London Welsh out and it was pleasing to see three front-row men, me included, getting tries.??

Cochrane, the 30-year-old former Scotland Under-21 captain, arrived at the club in the summer after a number of seasons with a handful of clubs down south. While he was with Wasps, he hurt his knee in November 2013 and that meant when he arrived at Edinburgh, his hometown club, he was still on the injury list.

After a couple of run outs in the BT Premiership he made his Edinburgh debut in the Guinness PRO12 encounter against Ospreys in September, but lasted only nine minutes before suffering a hamstring injury. Another two months out followed so now he is really trying to make up for lost time.

He said: ??I have had a pretty annoying time with injuries, so to be able to come on and get a good run out and influence the result in a European match on Sunday was pleasing for me. It is all about getting as many minutes under my belt as possible at this stage , but I know that there are plenty of hookers at the club and to be one of the two in the matchday squad regularly I have to be working hard day in and day out. I do believe I have a lot to give Edinburgh though and I am really looking forward to the next few months with big matches coming thick and fast.??

With five senior hookers ?? Ross Ford, James Hilterbrand, Cochrane, Stuart McInally and George Turner ?? at the club competition is certainly fierce for the No.2 jersey. However, with seven matches to come before the start of the RBS 6 Nations and then Scotland??s Ford likely to be away for the whole duration of that event in February and March the other quartet know that chances are on the horizon starting with this weekend??s return fixture against London Welsh.