Gregor Townsend wants to use Scotland experience to inspire Glasgow to an elusive win GREGOR Townsend has more than a fleeting knowledge of international rugby and the Five/Six Nations Championship, and as he bids to finish his first Heineken Cup campaign with an elusive victory he urged his squad to think like Test players. After a run of five defeats, Glasgow Warriors" European hopes this term have gone up in smoke. However, the team has shown improvement in many areas and nowhere was that more evident than when they raced into a 15-0 lead against Northampton in their opening Heineken Cup pool match at Franklins Gardens. It was cruel the way they lost Stuart Hogg and Sean Lamont to injury, and then two tries at the end of the first half. The Saints pack then swung into gear and did enough to quell the Scottish uprising and hold on for a narrow win. Northampton make a first visit to Scotstoun today knowing that their only chance of reaching the quarter-finals now lies with a bonus-point win, and hopes that others do them a favour to hand them a best runners-up route to the last eight. Townsend does not expect anything other than an explosive match and, rather than ignore the Scotland context, with 19 of his squad selected for next week's training squad, he is using it to help inspire his side. "That [Scotland selection] was a great boost and the players deserve it with the way they have performed," he said. We have trained really well this week and part of that was the announcement on Monday. We talked when we played Northampton away and again this week about how we need a Test-match mentality. We're up against players like Tom Wood, Courtney Lawes and Dylan Hartley who will be playing for England against Scotland. If our players play well in that environment they have a more persuasive argument for playing for Scotland. While Edinburgh have made just one change for their match at Saracens, Townsend has made ten and starts with only two players - Moray Low and skipper Al Kellock - in the same positions they started last week away to Ulster. I have chosen to give a number of players who didn't play last Friday an opportunity, and I'm really excited about this team. There is an abundance of pace throughout the squad. Of that there is little doubt. Ten changes and still the team has a strong look to it. In come Stuart Hogg, Tommy Seymour, Byron McGuigan, Graeme Morrison and Ruaridh Jackson and Niko Matawalu at half-back, while Ryan Wilson is back at No 8, Tim Swinson at lock, and Pat MacArthur and Gordon Reid return to the front row. Rory Lamont has returned to the medical room after his ankle injury flared up, while scrum-half Chris Cusiter is hoping a specialist will give his shoulder the thumbs-up to return to action possibly in mid-February. Two Scotland call-ups, Rob Harley and Chirs Fusaro, are also sitting out this weekend with knocks, but both should be fully recovered to play for Scotland against England at full or "A" level in a fortnight. Jon Welsh and Ed Kalman are back playing club rugby, but neither was considered fit enough to step back onto the bench and so Glasgow start again with just one replacement prop, which may be tested by a powerful Northampton scrummage in which prop Soane Tonga'uiha will be making his 200th club appearance. Townsend insisted that, while European quarter-final hopes were long gone, there was still plenty motivation for his side to claim the Saints scalp this afternoon. "We know this is an important game because we need the first win, and with two weeks off it would bring us back in ten days" time with confidence," he said. Our plan was to perform in both league and cup competitions and I firmly believe that it is possible to do well in both. The Heineken Cup is very similar to the Six Nations in that those first two games were crucial to get the points on the board but also to get momentum, and we had a great opportunity away to Northampton. The game against Ulster was competitive and we know we are playing against the top sides, but those first two games pushed us into a corner, and the most disappointing performance of the season, for me and the players, was Castres at home. It has been frustrating and disappointing and we don't want to finish the campaign with no wins. We have been competitive but we have to transfer that into an 80-minute winning performance. We've learned a lot. Teams we've played have had big packs and we've learned about playing in wet weather. Northampton are one of Europe's top teams and will test us across the park, particularly up-front and in the set-piece, but as ever this is a challenge we relish.