Gregor Townsend has called for an artificial pitch at Scotstoun after Glasgow's second call off in a row at home.

Following persistent heavy rain, the Warriors' 1872 Cup match against Edinburgh was called off less than an hour before the official 6.05 pm start time yesterday - and only an hour after the club's Twitter feed had suggested that it would go ahead.

After the cancellation of their previous home game against Treviso on December 20, it will do Glasgow's hopes of reaching the PRO12 play-off stages no good that they now have to find two free dates in the busy fixture calendar later this season.

The most likely possibilities are the Heineken Cup quarter and semi-final weekends in April, although at least one of those would be ruled out if Edinburgh were to reach the European knockout stages.

Townsend explained that he believed the pitch was still playable less than half an hour before referee Andrew McMenemy ruled otherwise, however he stressed that he had no argument with the official's decision.

"I've no problems with the fact it's not on," said the coach. "We all wanted to play but unfortunately the weather beat us. The pitch inspection was planned for 5pm and he said there was potential for putting it back half an hour if the rain cleared.

"One forecast that came in said it was going to clear around 6pm, but by the time he looked at it at 5pm he said he'd have to call it off.

"We understand that it was a big hassle for fans, but we were all hoping that we could play."

The Scotstoun ground has generally been popular with players and fans since it became Glasgow's playing base at the start of last season.

However, as a municipal facility managed by Glasgow Life, the club is effectively a tenant and has no freedom to install a different playing surface.

It is understood that an artificial surface has been ruled out in the past as the pitch is also used for athletic field events in summer.

Saracens and Cardiff Blues have recently installed 3G surfaces, while Ospreys play on a hybrid pitch at the Liberty Stadium.

A new grass pitch was laid at Scotstoun a few months ago, but Townsend, who has long been an advocate of artificial surfaces, said that the time is now right to look at the issue in Scotland again.

"The pitch looks and plays better than last season, but we've now had two games off and that's not good for us, our plans and our supporters," he said.

"I'm a big believer in 3G. We played on a 3G pitch this year at Cardiff. We enjoyed playing on it and I believe that we will see more and more of those pitches in the future.

"We could play all our games when we're meant to play them. It is something I'd be happy to play and coach on. I see benefits not just for the games but also training during the week."