However, the Scots have won only once in their last six meetings with the Blues, and the Blues would score a sixth win in their last seven starts if they claim an away victory.
The Blues’ only defeat to a Scottish side in their last dozen such encounters was 3-22 in this equivalent fixture in January this year, so they know it won’t be easy.
“I’ve been pleased with our away form this season. We’ve recorded good wins against Munster and the Dragons on the road and will be aiming to keep up that kind of performance this Friday,” said Coach David Young.
“Obviously we are all pleased to be top of our group in the Heineken Cup but our focus this week will be totally on Glasgow and the Magners League.
“We know it won’t be easy. Glasgow are a very strong side with a good home record, and we lost up there when we played them last season. They’re a well coached outfit and a difficult team to break down.Â
“I thought they were one of the best teams in the Magners League last year and had a big bearing on where the trophy ended up.”
“Having said that we recorded a good win over them earlier in the season, but know we must improve on our performance against Harlequins if we are to get anything out of the game,” Young added.
Hefin O’Hare is given the nod ahead of new Samoan winger Lome Fa’atau in the Glasgow starting fifteen.
Glasgow Warriors Assistant Coach, Shade Munro, said: “O’Hare is the form player at the moment. Lome hasn’t performed to his full potential yet because I think he’s just taking time to settle in. However, he has taken the news positively and he’s trained very well all week.”
Warriors Defence Coach, Gary Mercer, added: “We’ve got real pride in our home record, so we need to keep Cardiff out.”
New this season is the Specsavers Fairplay League that will reward the best disciplinary record, with the team with the fewest disciplinary points (1 point for each yellow card, and 3 points for each red card or upheld citing) at the end of the season given £10,000 to spend on their youth development programme.
The Blues are top of the Magners League but are sixth in the Fairplay league having picked up four yellow cards, a majority of which were for technical offences. For further information on the Specsavers Fairplay League please visit www.magnersleague.com/fairplay
Cardiff Blues: Ben Blair; Rhys Williams, Tal Selley, Dafydd Hewitt, Gareth Thomas; Dai Flanagan, Jason Spice; John Yapp, Gareth Williams, Gary Powell, Bradley Davies, Robert Sidoli, Scott Morgan, Martyn Williams, Mark Lewis
Replacements: Taufa’ao Filise, Ross Johnson, Deiniol Jones, Mama Molitika, Darren Allinson, Ryan Howells, Ben White
Glasgow Warriors: Bernardo Stortoni; Hefin O’Hare, Andrew Henderson, Daryl Gibson, Thom Evans; Dan Parks, Chris O’Young; Justin Va’a, Fergus Thomson, Moray Low, Andy Newman, Alastair Kellock, Kelly Brown, John Barclay, Johnnie Beattie
Replacements: Eric Milligan, Ed Kalman, Opeta Palepoi, James Eddie, Sam Pinder, Scott Barrow, Graeme Morrison
