Lineen has selected four of the available leavers already announced (Bernardo Stortoni, Kevin Tkachuk, Aly Muldowney and Richie Vernon), whilst confirming that flanker James Eddie will join them in departing for pastures new. James will also bow out by starting in his final game at Firhill.
“It was a tough call to make [handing the leavers a start] but it was for the right reasons,” said the head coach, “but I have a huge amount of respect for the players and what they have done for this club over the years.
“When you look at some of the names like Bernardo Stortoni, Kevin Tkachuk, James Eddie and Richie Vernon, these guys are fantastic players. You know they’re going to give their all in front of a home crowd – it will be quite an emotional night but it has to be a professional night too. We have to go about doing our job right.”
That professional attitude is further enhanced by the return of scrum-half Chris Cusiter who will make his first appearance at Firhill in what is the final home game of the campaign. Chris’s come back is bolstered by stand-in captain Graeme Morrison’s return to form having scored a scorching try against Treviso last weekend.
Sean continued: “It’s great to have a guy the quality of Chris Cusiter back who will be making his first appearance at Firhill this season. Graeme Morrison scored a cracker last week as well so they’re like new signings. Their enthusiasm rubs off on the other players.”
Looking ahead to the threat posed by play-off chasing Scarlets, Sean added: “It’s going to be a tough game. Llanelli play a fantastic brand of rugby so we can’t sit off and watch them play it.
“They are very close to top-four qualification so they’ll be coming up here to try and win the game.”
But despite admitting he has had one eye on next season throughout the closing stages of the Magners League, Sean concluded: “It’s all about this game, it’s all about the players and it’s all about Glasgow Warriors and making sure that, on Friday night, we give one hell of a performance.”
14 Hefin O'Hare
13 Peter Murchie
12 Graeme Morrison CAPTAIN
11 DTH van der Merwe
10 Ruaridh Jackson
9 Chris Cusiter
1 Kevin Tkachuk
2 Dougie Hall
3 Moray Low
4 Aly Muldowney
5 Tom Ryder
6 James Eddie
7 Richie Vernon
8 Johnnie Beattie
Substitutes: 16 Fergus Thomson, 17 Jon Welsh, 18 Ryan Grant, 19 Robert Harley, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Colin Gregor, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Federico Aramburu
Unavailable for selection: John Barclay (rest), Rob Dewey (knee), Alex Dunbar (thigh), Max Evans (elbow), James Fleming (knee), Calum Forrester (knee), Richie Gray (rest), Ed Kalman (back), Alastair Kellock (rest), Murray McConnell (back), Colin Shaw (knee)