SACKED Edinburgh captain Magnus Bradbury is back in training with is club and expected to play a role in Saturday's home match against the Ospreys, says Duncan Hodge, their assistant coach, who is backing the player to bounce back in peak form.

"It is water under the bridge, we have a massive game on Saturday," said Hodge. "It’s difficult for the club and for Magnus. Everyone’s got to move on. His value to the club is on the pitch.

"He’s gutted about the whole thing. It’s not a great situation for anyone and he just wants to get on, play and contribute – help his team-mates, help the club, and make up for lost time."

Bradbury was fired as captain by head coach Richard Cockerill after a late-night incident left him falling and needing treatment for a head injury that also ruled him out of action for the next three weeks. He had also been suspended for two weeks but would not have been able to play anyway.

Now Bradbury is back and will almost certainly be needed on Saturday when both Edinburgh and the Ospreys are expected to be missing a number of players who will held back for international duty when the Autumn Tests kick off a week later.

"I think the true measure [of Bradbury] is what we see in training and on the pitch," added Hodge. "He has to find ways mentally to get on with it. It is great for him to be back involved in training, be one of the team again.

"For a couple of weeks, medically and for whatever reason, he was not around and it is hard when you are in isolation. Now he is back and can contribute on the training pitch and on Saturday as well.

"He is a good all-rounder. Very physical, good ball carrier and good defender. This time a year ago, he was playing for Scotland so he is a quality player. He will say himself that he did not reach these heights the first four, five weeks of the season, so he will be desperate to get back on the pitch and start climbing again."

Since Hamish Watson, Bradbury's openside back row colleague, is almost certain to be one of those held back for Scotland duty after proving his fitness with a storming performance last weekend in Italy, the former captain is unlikely to have to wait long for his recall.

The game matters to Edinburgh. It is the final piece in a block of matches they targeted for wins immediately after their shock home defeat to Benetton Treviso. You can sense confidence beginning to seep back into the side, but it could be fragile and one poor home performance would set it back a long way. It is also their first return to Myreside after three wins on the road, and they have something to prove to their supporters.

"It’s a home game – home games are massive," said Hodge, "We need to put on a good show. We’ve talked a bit about this five-week block, but more than that, it’s now just an isolated game that we need to win. It’s massive for us.

"Every week, there’s still loads to work on, but some things are getting better and more consistent. At the weekend, we struggled a bit in the first half in the set piece; decision-making was good and some good attack; good sets of defence. There was loads of good stuff in there.

"We scored three tries and potentially should have scored more - we had one chalked off when he should have maybe gone to the TMO, and at the end we missed two chances for the bonus point. That was a disappointment for us. On the flip side, we managed to stop them getting one right at the end [for a losing bonus point]. They’re a decent side. It was a good win."

Edinburgh's biggest problem is having 13 players away at the Scotland training camp that ends later today. That means just one proper training session tomorrow and the light workload of the captains's run are all the preparation many will get. On top of that, the coaches cannot even select the team yet – they don't know who the Scotland management will hold back.

"It makes early parts of the week difficult," Hodge admitted. "Being a Saturday game is slightly more helpful, because any one we do get back, we’re going to get them on Thursday and Friday for training. It’s never easy. But Ospreys are the same boat and we kind of know how to deal with it.”

After the Ospreys match, they get a couple of weeks off but then travel to South Africa for a tricky double header – the first game is the same weekend as Scotland play Australia so they will again be missing players and their Southern Hemisphere opponents will almost full strength.