GLASGOW Warriors could be landed with one of the toughest pools ever when the draw for next season’s Champions Cup is made today .

After being in the top two tiers of seeds for the Champions Cup in the past two seasons, the Warriors are in the fourth and last group this time round. The tiers will only be known in full once a preliminary draw is made, but the Warriors already know that they will be in the same pool as either the PRO12, English or French champions - Scarlets, Exeter and Clermont Auvergne - or former winners of the competition - Wasps, Munster and Toulon.

Glasgow’s Tier Two opponents could be Saracens, the club who beat them in the quarter-finals back in April. From Tier Three they could be grouped with Racing 92, the French club they have played in each of the last two seasons.

Two years ago, as PRO12 champions, Glasgow were in the top tier and were drawn in the same pool as Racing, Northampton and Scarlets. They won three of their six pool matches, but that was only enough for them to finish third and fail to qualify for the knockout stages.

Last season, after getting to the PRO12 semi-finals, Glasgow were in the second tier of seeds and drew Munster, Leicester and Racing again. They lost home and away to Munster but won their other four games to get through to the last eight.

Edinburgh are again in the Challenge Cup, and will also learn their pool opponents today. Last season they reached the quarter-finals only to lose at home to French club La Rochelle. The draw starts at 1pm British time with the Challenge Cup, then the Champions Cup starts about 20 minutes later.

Meanwhile, only four Warriors players have been named in Scotland’s starting line-up for the Test against Italy in Singapore on Saturday - but another six are on the bench. Half-backs Finn Russell and Ali Price are joined in the back division by centre Alex Dunbar, while lock Tim Swinson is the only Glasgow forward in the pack - although he is joined by former team-mates Josh Strauss, now with Sale Sharks, and Gordon Reid, of London Irish.

When the squad of 34 was originally announced, exactly half were from Glasgow, including Strauss. But, with three Tests on three consecutive Saturdays, new Scotland coach Townsend has opted to give starts to some other players who have been out of the reckoning for a while. And, with Stuart Hogg and Tommy Seymour away on British and Irish Lions duty, only six players who began the Six Nations win over Italy back in March start against the Italians.

“Throughout the team we have people getting their first opportunities for a while,” Townsend said. “It is pleasing to be able to include a few players that have recovered from injury and have worked hard to be available.”

Scotland (v Italy in Singapore, Saturday 1pm British time, live on BBC Scotland): D Taylor (Saracens); D Hoyland (Edinburgh), M Scott (Gloucester), A Dunbar (Glasgow), T Visser (Harlequins); F Russell, A Price (both Glasgow); A Dell, R Ford, W Nel (all Edinburgh), T Swinson (Glasgow), B Toolis (Edinburgh), J Barclay (Scarlets), J Hardie (Edinburgh), J Strauss (Sale). Substitutes: F Brown (Glasgow), G Reid (London Irish), Z Fagerson, R Harley (both Glasgow), M Bradbury (Edinburgh), R Wilson, H Pyrgos, P Horne (all Glasgow).

Champions Cup qualifiers:

Tier One: Exeter, Scarlets, Clermont Auvergne plus two from Wasps, Munster and Toulon.

Tier Two: Saracens, Leinster, La Rochelle plus the club not drawn in tier one and the fourth-ranked club from the same country (Racing 92, Leicester or Ospreys) .

Tier Three: Bath, Ulster, Montpellier plus the two fourth-ranked clubs not drawn in tier two.

Tier Four: Harlequins, Glasgow Warriors, Castres, Treviso, Northampton.