At first sight the 39-point hammering dished out in the first leg of the Heineken Cup clash between Leicester and Edinburgh pretty well guarantees that the English club are going to win their return match in Scottish capital this afternoon, probably with some comfort. First sight, however, could be misleading.

Reasons to be hopeful north of the Border include the Andy Robinson factor and the strides the team has made since the former England coach took charge, the change in venue, the injury list that tests Leicester’s strength in depth, and a powerful feeling that though the knockout stages of the competition are again out of Edinburgh’s reach, the confidence they would get from defeating a team of Leicester’s proven pedigree would set them up for seasons to come.

“We go into every game looking to win, we are in control over whether we win or lose,” Robinson said. “The set-piece is key, whether we can get some quality possession to launch attacks. We respect Leicester, they are a great side, but we have to show that respect by having a real go at them.”

Edinburgh acknowledge that they are playing only for pride, but point out that that was also true when they cruised past Leinster, Leicester’s next opponents, before Christmas. They also see a glimmer of a chance in the knowledge that the English cross the Border desperate for a bonus point at Murrayfield – they are the worst placed of the six teams lying second in their pools with only nine points – and desperate teams sometimes do daft things.

Marcelo Lofreda, the Tigers’ coach, has stuck with the side that thrashed Harlequins last week, which means no place in the 22 for Jim Hamilton, the Scotland lock who has been persistently liked with a move to join today’s opponents at the end of the season. They are also without players ranging from Alesana Tuilagi and Seru Rabeni to Lewis Moody and Harry Ellis, though they still field a formidable array of international talent with the Scots being warned to pay attention to Aaron Mauger at inside centre.

In contrast, Robinson has been able to rotate his troops with Hugo Southwell, the Scotland full back, making his first start after recovering from an ankle injury and Gavin Kerr, the international prop, recovering from injury and sickness to strengthen the front row.

Alongside him, Ross Ford, the hooker, is in a prime position to assess the changes that have happened at Edinburgh since they lost so badly at Welford Road. “Down there we did not do ourselves justice at all,” he said. “We are at home this time and will raise the tempo and pace and aim to impose our game on them, disrupt their ball and make sure ours is solid. We have come on a lot since the game down there and expect to put in a good show.

“We have worked hard to address the problems in the scrum, and have come up with a few ideas – we will have to see how they go. We are quite happy with the way the lineout is going – it was 100 per cent against Cardiff in difficult conditions last week – but we are aware that Leicester have one of the best lineouts in Europe so we have to make the right calls and I have to hit my jumper with the throw every time.”

It is the start of an interesting week for many in the Edinburgh side. Today’s game is followed by 13 of them being involved in the Scotland training session at the start of next week before they fly out to France to take on Toulouse and they all know that individual performances over the next seven days will go a long way to deciding which of them will play in the opening RBS Six Nations Championship match.

“We are looking to improve our performance,” Ford added. “We could not have asked for two tougher games to finish our Heineken Cup, it is exciting for all of us, exactly the games we love to play. You go out to do your best in every match but the Heineken Cup means you are up against some of the best players in the world. It is great to get the chance to show your wares in these high-quality games and it has to have an effect when it comes to national selection.”

Edinburgh: H Southwell; B Cairns, N De Luca, J Houston, S Webster; P Godman, M Blair; A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Kerr, M Mustchin, B Gissing, R Reid, R Rennie, A Hogg (capt). Replacements: A Kelly, A Allori, C Hamilton, A MacDonald, B Meyer, D Blair, C MacRae.

Leicester: G Murphy; J Murphy, O Smith, A Mauger, T Varndell; A Goode, C Laussucq; M Ayerza, G Chuter, J White, L Deacon, B Kay, B Deacon, T Croft, M Corry (capt). Replacements: B Kayser, A Moreno, M Wentzel, J Crane, F Murphy, I Humphreys, D Hipkiss.

Referee: P Fitzgibbon (Ireland).

The new year may still be fresh in people’s minds, but it seems it is never too early to start handing out the first silverware of the season.

So the Scottish Hydro Electric Premiership trophy has been packed in its travelling box, the champagne put on ice and if everything goes according to expectations both will be opened at Boroughmuir this afternoon.

They need only two points from their home game against GHA to clinch the crown won by Currie last season. Their closest rivals, Ayr and Currie, meet at Malleny Park, and unless one of them picks up a four-try bonus, the leaders would claim the title with a narrow defeat.

“There are a lot of nerves,” Grant Wilson, the Boroughmuir team manager, said. “We’re taking absolutely nothing for granted.”