DARGE THE LATEST WOUNDED WARRIOR

GLASGOW WARRIORS will be down to the bare bones for this weekend’s Challenge Cup quarter-final against Lyon as their injury problems continue to mount. Rory Darge is the latest first-team regular to be sidelined — and the Scotland star is now expected to miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury he picked up last Friday against the Bulls. It’s a hammer blow for head coach Danny Wilson, who is now likely to be missing almost half a team in terms of first-choice players for the trip to France. Kyle Steyn has already been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign, as have Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson and Sebastian Cancelliere. The back-row resources are looking increasingly stretched, with flanker Tom Gordon another who won’t play against Lyon after he was knocked unconscious against the Bulls. Skipper Ryan Wilson is also struggling with a knock, although Glasgow are hopeful he will recover in time for the weekend. Wilson admits he will have to shuffle his pack for the game against a Lyon side who currently sit fifth in the French Top 14. ‘It’s not great,’ he said. ‘Rory Darge (pictured) is not looking particularly good at the moment. He has a knee injury and we are trying to get an assessment to see how long he will be out for. ‘Tom Gordon is the other one, so two in the same position has left us a bit exposed in the back row. Matt Fagerson was already injured, so that area is light at the moment. ‘Ryan (Wilson) is another one who is struggling at the moment but I think and hope he will make it. ‘He picked up a nasty dead leg before he went to South Africa and got another bang on the same leg. ‘He was hobbling around a bit. With the right rehab this week, it might just be a case of getting him out there and playing him. Not too much training — but that will probably suit Ryan. ‘In terms of Kyle and Seb, they won’t feature for us for the rest of the season. If we were to make a final, one of them might be available but I very much doubt it. ‘The same goes for another couple of players — Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson — these guys are now doubtful. It’s an opportunity for other boys. If you want to win anything, you have to have a squad. ‘You can look at it two ways. We’ve lost a few players, and Edinburgh are the same, and that’s why our squad needs to be deep. That means producing it from within. ‘Ultimately, we need to grow the squad and that’s one way of doing it — you are forced to do it at times. ‘But one man’s adversity is another man’s opportunity. There are going to be opportunities for boys who will now get a chance to play a big European quarter-final in France. ‘That will be great for them and we’ll see what that means for the squad.’