Franco Smith has eased injury concerns over Glasgow Warriors captain Kyle Steyn and suggested he could be back available for next weekend's URC play-off quarter-final.
The winger is one of 12 players to drop out of the team that lost to Lions in their last match and was joined on the injury list by Stafford McDowall.
Both players appear to have picked up infections after cuts to their knee and hand respectively. Steyn seems to have got crumb from the astro turf into his cut while McDowall has had his hand cleaned out twice in recent weeks.
It's unclear how long either will be out for but Smith appeared confident that he would welcome back Steyn, at least, for the quarter-final.
He does have Huw Jones and Richie Gray returning to the starting XV for this game against Zebre on Friday night, while George Turner is also getting close.
READ MORE: Huw Jones and Richie Gray return as Glasgow Warriors name team to face Zebre
When asked about Steyn's absence, Smith said: “It’s an infection. Some of the crumb gets into the open wound and creates an infection. Kyle’s knee swelled up and he had to get some antibiotics from the hospital on Wednesday.
“The smart choice was not to use him this week with other guys being fully fit.
"He’s (McDowall) been washed out surgically twice, his hand is closing now and we’ll see how it heals.
“Obviously because it’s his hand there is a lot of blood going to it, so the healing process is quick. We’ll assess that next week and see how far the recovery process has come.
"It was a strange thing with Stafford's hand because we originally thought he fell on a stud. But after reviewing it, no stud can do that. So, I don't now if there was maybe a nail or something sharp like a sprinkler head which was left out on the field by accident.
"I think Steyno picked up his infection here in Scotland because he was fine and it was something that came up on Tuesday.
"It might have been a bit of the crumb off the pitch which might have gone into the open wound. It is a small tear on the skin and it doesn't look significant but the swelling is more worrying.
"I can't point to one specific thing."
On Jones and Gray, he responded: “We’re very excited to have these guys back. George Turner is also recovering well in the background, so the S&C and medical teams have done a great job to ensure we have them ready for this part of the season.”
Josh McKay is another player who is absent from the Warriors 23 for Friday night but there's good news on that front with the Kiwi simply being rested to allow Kyle Rowe a chance to play at full back and get more experience in that role in case he's needed there in bigger games.
He added: "Josh McKay is just rotated. It’s all about giving Kyle Rowe another chance. We’ve used one full back mostly all season so if something goes awry then what do we do? It’s to ensure Kyle is best prepared.
"It’s also in Scotland Rugby’s favour. There’s a sense he will be used at full back this summer, he’s already done those duties during the Six Nations so it’s about making sure we have another option with Ollie Smith injured.
“Obviously that allowed Josh to play a lot more but we also want him fresh and ready for this last part.”
Rowe is one of just two backs who keep their place from the Lions game and is joined in the back three by Argentine pair Sebastian Cancelliere and Facundo Cordero, while Jones partners Sione Tuipulotu in the centre.
Duncan Weir will make his 150th appearance for the club on Friday night after being named at fly-half while Jamie Dobie will partner him at scrum half.
There's only one player in the forwards who keeps his place with the entire front row and second row switched out.
Jamie Bhatti, Johnny Matthews and Zander Fagerson all come in, while Gray is joined by Max Williamson in the engine room.
Rory Darge is the only forward to keep his spot and starts at openside with Matt Fagerson on the blindside and Jack Dempsey at No 8.
Smith has gone for a 5/3 split on the bench for the first time this season too, and he explained that it is largely down to Jones return as well as making sure Ross Thompson is up to speed from the bench.
He continued: “I only did it once last season and this is the first time this season. So that’s basically how it’s gone. I can’t remember when the last time was.
“The reason behind it is obviously Huw Jones is just returning from injury and we want to introduce him and manage him. But at the same time Sione Tuipulotu has played a lot of rugby and we want to give Ross Thompson a bit of a run in the second part of the game to make sure all our fly-halves are aligned in an important period of the season."
With an opportunity to still move up the table, there's no chance that Smith will be having a quiet weekend either despite Glasgow playing on Friday night.
He said: “I’ll be watching. We’ll have to determine who we are going to face. It’s going to be important to see. Regardless of where we finish we still don’t know who we will play in the quarters so we’ll be watching every minute so we can start preparing for the right teams as soon as it comes to a conclusion.”
Glasgow Warriors: Kyle Rowe, Facundo Cordero, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu (C), Sebastian Cancelliere, Duncan Weir, Jamie Dobie, Jamie Bhatti, Johnny Matthews, Zander Fagerson, Max Williamson, Richie Gray, Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey
Replacements: Gregor Hiddleston, Nathan McBeth, Oli Kebble, Scott Cummings, Euan Ferrie, George Horne, Ross Thompson, Tom Jordan
Zebre Parma: Jacopo Trulla, Pierre Bruno, Luca Morisi (C), Damiano Mazza, Simone Gesi, Giovanni Montemauri, Alessandro Fusco, Danilo Fischetti, Giampietro Ribaldi, Muhamed Hasa, Matteo Canali, Leonard Krumov, Giacomo Ferrari, Bautista Stavile, Davide Ruggeri
Replacements: Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Alessio Sanavia, Riccardo Genovese, David Sisi, Taina Fox-Matamua, Ratko Jelic, Tiff Eden, Fetuli Paea
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