AFTER months of talks, Edinburgh have finally been given the go-ahead for their "mini-Murrayfield" stadium on the back pitches behind the national ground.

The development has come too late for this season, however.

They will have to stick to the unpopular international ground, where they never have any hope of generating an atmosphere, but do expect to be able to move into the new facility in time for next season.

Douglas Struth, the club's managing director, said: "While this has clearly been a difficult process and more drawn-out than we had envisaged, we are delighted to have now been granted a building warrant by City of Edinburgh Council.

"I believe this is a really exciting time to be an Edinburgh supporter and I urge our fans to get behind the team as we prepare to move into our new home."

Edinburgh play their final pre-season match against the Ospreys at Murrayfield on Saturday, at almost the same time as Glasgow Warriors are wrapping up their preparations against Ulster at Scotstoun.

Head coach Dave Rennie expects the three in his squad cut from the Rugby World Cup training part – Huw Jones, Matt Fagerson and Grant Stewart – to feature.

"We offered them a week off, coming back this week, but they were both keen to get back in and get their heads around things," he revealed. "That is credit to them. We were not going to use them last week but they will both get some game time this week.

"They are disappointed [to miss the World Cup] but our job is to help them bounce back quickly. There could be injuries before or during the World Cup and we want those guys playing really well so that, if Gregor [Townsend, the Scotland head coach] is looking for a replacement, he is looking at those boys. We are going to help them be the best option if somebody gets broken."

Intriguingly, though, Huw Jones is expected to play in his specialist role at centre this week, Rennie also revealed that one of the options the club are considering in the medium term is using him at full-back to cover the loss of Stuart Hogg, who has moved to Exeter.

Jones has played there before in South Africa but came to Scotland very much as a specialist centre, where he made his name at Test level.

"He really suits our style of game and we have a lot of really good midfielders. Huw is interested in that as well," Rennie added.

They are going to have to find a long-term replacement. Last week Glenn Bryce started there, Ruaridh Jackson is also coming back from a minor injury and ready to slot into the berth he occupied most of last season while after the World Cup, Tommy Seymour has played full-back before.

For Jones, however, it might be a good way to try to relaunch his domestic career, which seems to have stalled after his explosive start in Scotland colours.