Kingsholm can inspire us - Paterson

Gloucester Rugby went down to defeats against Leinster and Agen in the opening rounds back in October while Edinburgh kept their knock-out stage hopes alive with a last-gasp win over Leinster.

And Edinburgh captain and Scottish star Paterson predicts the Pool 2 contest has all the makings of being a real crowd pleaser between two sides who place a strong emphasis on attacking rugby.

"I have a lot of respect for Gloucester and the fact that they try to play a bit of rugby - which is not always the case with some teams in the Premiership - and, with our similar approach, it will be something of like for like," he said.

"We are really looking forward to playing at Kingsholm, it is a great place to play and they have such fantastic support.

"We know that the Gloucester pack will produce good ball but the dangers are likely to come from their attacking players - there is an exuberance and youthfulness about Gloucester this season.

"They have plenty of talent in the back line and, with players like James Simpson-Daniel and Anthony Allen around, playing against a side with that freshness of not being fearful of losing really excites me.

"And, on top of that, with Bryan Redpath and Carl Hogg on their coaching staff, they wont be short of inside information and what to expect from us though I sincerely hope the weather does not mean that we get bogged down in a forward battle."

The Edinburgh squad of 2003 / 2004 created a bit of tournament history when they became the first - and so far only - Scottish team to qualify for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals and Paterson is intent on the class of 2006 going all out to join them in winning through to the knock-out stages.

"Our win over Leinster was a close one and, if you lose your opening two games, you have virtually no chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals," he said.

"We are still in the Heineken Cup but now we need back-to-back wins against Gloucester and that is a huge ask. We will certainly need more of the same spirit that saw us through against Leinster.

"However, it was good to get back to winning ways with a victory over Border Reivers at the weekend although in all honesty it was a far from complete performance.

"It is always difficult coming together after the international series of matches and the Test players were physically tired but we certainly have plenty to work on this week before going to Gloucester.

"Of course we will miss our injured players, in particular our Test No 8 Allister Hogg, and we may be a bit of a patched-up side, but we will still be totally focused on what we have to do in the two games against Gloucester.

"New head coach Lynn Howells has settled in really well. He is hugely enthusiastic, knows exactly what he wants from the team and is certainly enjoying the challenge of working with the squad and, hopefully, ensuring we are no longer regarded as under-achievers."