Six Nations 2017: Wales omission will help Taulupe Faletau - Rob Howley

Taulupe Faletau replaced Ross Moriarty during the second half of Wales' defeat by England

Wales coach Rob Howley expects Taulupe Faletau to react to the pressure of missing out on a starting place against Scotland.

Howley has stuck with the back row of Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric and Ross Moriarty with Bath number eight Faletau on the bench.

"Ross Moriarty was outstanding against England and deserves to start," he said.

"This is the right back row to start the game which puts pressure on Toby."

Howley added: "That's good pressure. He'll become a better player and it's a 23-man squad.

"To name a strong bench as we have going up to Murrayfield is the key, and for many sides around the word it is the strength of their bench which counts.

"We were disappointed with the impact of our bench against England, it's an area that we've talked about and we're looking for better this weekend."

The 63-times capped Faletau, 26, replaced Moriarty after 55 minutes of the 21-16 defeat by England, but was playing for the first time since injuring a knee playing for Bath in December.

The 22-year-old Gloucester forward Moriarty's eye-catching performance against England means Howley is expecting 2013 British and Irish Lion Faletau to make his mark if he comes on.

"When we need to call upon our bench we feel we have a strong bench, we need to develop competition within that and people coming on have to make a better impact than they did against England," he said.

"The contact area is going to be vital, and in (John) Barclay they have a player who puts pressure on the contact area and we feel it will be vital in terms of speed of ball. We want to play.

"I'm sure the weather will have a big impact in Murrayfield so we have to be adaptable and flexible."

Both teams go into the match off the back of defeats with Scotland losing in Paris after their impressive 27-22 win over Ireland in the opening round of matches.

Wales have made just one change while Scotland have made five, with Scarlets flanker Barclay named captain in place of the injured Greig Laidlaw.

George North's return in place of Alex Cuthbert is the one Welsh change, with Howley expecting the Northampton wing to make a big impact.

"For me he's a player that gets supporters off seats whenever he gets the ball," added Howley.

"He's improved immensely in the last 18 months in terms of his defence. We want George with the ball in hand as often as possible.

"I suppose his try against Scotland 12 months ago sums up how he can change games and I'm certain he'll be looking to have a huge influence against Scotland."