Injured Scotland rugby star Donnie is on the brink of a shock comeback this weekend putting the flanker - 25 years old today - in the frame for this Autumn's three-match Murrayfield Test series.

Donnie, who plays for Glasgow Warriors but is a product of the crack Edinburgh Academy nursery, has been sidelined since December with knee trouble and had further surgery in September.

However, the Evening News has learned that the player has progressed so well he has been pencilled into the Ayr line-up for Saturday's trip to Hawick in the BT Premiership.

If Donnie comes through that examination then he would go straight into contention for the start of Glasgow's European Cup campaign, the ideal springboard to facing Argentina next month in the Capital.