Warriors delay side for Blues battle

Glasgow Warriors have been forced into delaying their team announcement for Saturday's Magners League clash with Cardiff Blues due to a flu bug that has affected the squad. Warriors head coach Sean Lineen today named a 24-man squad instead.

More than 20 players have been infected by the bug over the past week but Lineen remains confident that preparations have remained as intense as ever.

"It's been a challenging week for the players who have come down with the bug," he said, "but I have been very impressed by how they have gone about their business.

"Both sides will be eager to win on Saturday, especially with Europe the following week. We have to go down there, to Cardiff's new stadium, with the belief that we can get a result."

Named for the first time in a Warriors squad, is summer signing DTH van der Merwe who joined straight from his impressive outings for Canada as he helped guide them to a place in the 2011 Rugby World Cup finals.

Having been ruled out of action since his arrival in Glasgow, Lineen is excited about the prospect of seeing van der Merwe donning a Warriors jersey for the first time.

Lineen continued: "DTH had some bad luck with a dead leg and the flu but he has been looking really sharp and I'm excited about seeing him in action soon after looking pretty impressive over the summer with Canada."

Glasgow Warriors' 24-man squad to play Cardiff Blues in the Magners League at Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 6:30pm)...

Forwards: John Barclay, Tim Barker, Johnnie Beattie, Kelly Brown, Calum Forrester, Dougie Hall, Alastair Kellock, Moray Low, Pat MacArthur, Kevin Tkachuk, Dan Turner, Richie Vernon, Jon Welsh

Backs: Chris Cusiter, Rob Dewey, Thom Evans, Colin Gregor, Dave McCall, DTH van der Merwe, Graeme Morrison, Hefin O'Hare, Dan Parks, Bernardo Stortoni, Colin Shaw