GLASGOW Warriors have been hit hard by injuries as they prepare for their toughest game of the season so far - today’s European Champions Cup match in Paris against Racing 92. No 8 Josh Strauss has joined a growing casualty list of forwards, but the real worry for Gregor Townsend is at scrum-half, where Ali Price is now the only fit No 9 available to the head coach.

Henry Pyrgos is a long-term absentee because of injury, and Mike Blair has been ruled out because of concussion. The club’s third international scrum-half, Grayson Hart, will always miss today’s big game because of concussion and a neck injury.

Scotland Under-20s cap Price, who has yet to play a dozen games for the Warriors, will therefore be thrown in at the deep end against the pool leaders. If he is injured, the only cover on the bench is Lee Jones. At least the Scotland winger has some experience of playing at scrum-half from his early days in rugby, but Townsend would obviously prefer a full-strength squad from which to select against a team as formidable as Racing.

Pat MacArthur is back from injury, however, and will start at hooker, while Glenn Bryce makes the bench after a spell on the sidelines. Because Peter Horne has been ruled out for a few weeks, Finn Russell will start at inside-centre, with Duncan Weir lining up against World Rugby player of the year Dan Carter at stand-off.

“We have three big European games coming up, starting with a trip to Paris to face the Top 14 leaders tomorrow afternoon,” Townsend said yesterday after naming his team. “We were really pleased with a number of aspects in last week’s game against Edinburgh and we are looking forward to the challenge of facing one of the form teams in Europe on their own patch.

“We've been boosted by the return of Pat MacArthur and Glenn Bryce from injury, while Finn Russell comes in for Peter Horne, who we expect to be without for a few weeks due to injury.”

MacArthur, who signed a new contract with the Warriors earlier this week, insisted that he is looking forward to the challenge of playing one of the continent’s form teams.

“That's why we play - to confront these big guys,” the hooker said. “To play a French team in France - I've played against a few and it's been amazing.

“It's a great experience getting stuck in there. We've analysed them a lot and been training very hard on what we want to do and now it’s about going out there and putting that together.

“You have to go in there with a confidence about you and take it to them. These are not games where you can feel your way in, because they’re a team full of superstars and they’ll be wanting to do something. You have to just go for it from minute one and that’s what the experience of doing it before will teach you.”

Glasgow Warriors (v Racing 92 at the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, today, 1pm British time): S Hogg; T Naiyaravoro, M Bennett, F Russell, S Lamont; D Weir, A Price; G Reid, P MacArthur, Z Fagerson, L Nakarawa, J Gray, R Wilson, C Fusaro, A Ashe. Substitutes: F Brown, A Allan, S Puafisi, G Peterson, H Blake, L Jones, S Johnson, G Bryce.