By CALUM CROWE

RICHARD COCKERILL believes Edinburgh are now heading into a defining period of their season, beginning with Friday night’s Heineken Champions Cup tie with Newcastle at Murrayfield. With both teams occupying the top two positions in Pool Five, ahead of French giants Toulon and Montpellier, Cockerill admits the match is essentially a must-win if Edinburgh are to progress in Europe. Cockerill has welcomed back a full complement of players this week. And the next month is likely to have a significant bearing on the success of Edinburgh’s season, with back-toback games against Newcastle in the Champions Cup being followed by a Guinness Pro14 double-header with Glasgow over Christmas and New Year. They then face Southern Kings at home on January 5, before bringing their European group-stage campaign to a close with a game in Toulon on January 12 and at home to Montpellier six days later. Admitting that the seven-game run represents the ‘acid test’ for his players, Cockerill said: ‘We need to win on Friday. ‘If you’re going to qualify out of the group, then you’re going to need to win three of the last four games — at least — to give yourself an opportunity. ‘Newcastle at home has to be a game that we target to win — and probably the away game, as well. I’m sure they’ll be thinking the same. ‘We still have an opportunity to qualify and we’ll do everything we can to do that. ‘It will be the acid test for us to come off the back of an international period and to now have to back it up with some massive games in Europe and in the league.’