Young Scotland star set to make January Edinburgh return but Emiliano Boffelli situation still unclear

Paterson, 23, has been suffering from a hamstring complaint that denied him the chance to be part of the Scotland squad for the Autumn Nations Series matches against Fiji, South Africa, Portugal and Australia. However, in an injury update issued by Edinburgh on Tuesday, the club revealed that Paterson is “expected to return to full training in January”.

The future is less clear for Argentina internationalist Boffelli, who went under the knife last month in a bid to a cure a back problem. “Long term injury with return to play timeline still to be confirmed,” was the information given on the 29-year-old, whose contract expires at the end of the season.

Prop Robin Hislop is out for an unspecified period of time due to a calf injury sustained in training, with centre Connor Boyle in the same boat after knee surgery. Scotland second row Glen Young will be back in full training next month after his own calf complaint and Mark Bennett is still slated to return in February due to an operation on his quad.

There was better news for Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt ahead of Saturday’s URC match at home to Benetton, with prop Javan Sebastian (shoulder), lock Sam Skinner (knee) and centre James Lang (calf) all now available for selection.