CONFIDENT Edinburgh coach Andy Robinson is unequivocal in his belief that his side will fare better in the Magners League next season than they have done in the current campaign, which concludes with two matches in Wales.
And he has vowed to do it with homegrown talent rather than middle-ranked foreign players.
"We will improve on this year," said the former England coach, who was equally adamant that he will not be waving his cheque book – even if SRU budgets perm
it – to boost his squad.
"I'm not into signing journeymen," he added. "It affects the dynamics of the whole squad. We have agreed with senior management that if the right player is there and they can make a difference to the squad, we will bring him in.
"Our priority is to keep our young players."
The depth in Robinson's squad has been stretched by a mounting injury count that means that 11 players are ruled out of tonight's clash with defending Magners League champions Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium, while Hugo Southwell misses the trip due to family commitments.
"We've been really pleased throughout the whole season by the way we've been able to manage injuries, but it has really come up and hit us in the last couple of weeks," said Robinson.
There was some positive news with the return of scrum half Mike Blair, who was sidelined for the victory over league leaders Leinster two weeks ago due to a head knock sustained in the previous weekend's defeat away to Glasgow.
Despite the absentees, Robinson heads for Wales confident that Edinburgh can finish the campaign with a flourish – they conclude with another trip to the Principality to meet Llanelli Scarlets on May 10 – and secure fourth spot in the table.
With that at stake, he has no intention of treating the fixture as an end-of-season affair.
Robinson added: "We have got to be able to match the physical way in which they (Ospreys] defend."
Ospreys: L Byrne; A Brew, S Parker, A Bishop, J Vaughton; J Hook, J Marshall; R Jones (capt), M Holah, J Thomas, I Evans, A Jones, C Griffiths, H Bennett, D Jones.
Subs: R Hibbard, A Jones, I Gough, F Tiatia, R Webb, S Connor, J Spratt,
Edinburgh: C MacRae; A Maxwell, B Cairns, N De Luca, A Turnbull; P Godman, M Blair; A Allori, R Ford, G Cross, M Mustchin, B Gissing, A Hogg (capt), D Callam, A MacDonald.
Subs: S Lawrie, K Traynor, F Pringle, S Newlands, G Laidlaw, D Blair, M Dey.
The full article contains 433 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
