Six Nations 2019: Scotland call up Glasgow's McDowall and Hughes & Edinburgh's Pyrgos

Stafford McDowall has only played eight senior games for Glasgow

Scotland have called uncapped Glasgow centre Stafford McDowall, Warriors wing Rory Hughes and Edinburgh scrum-half Henry Pyrgos into their squad preparing for the Six Nations opener with Italy.

Another three Glasgow players - flanker Matt Smith, centre Alex Dunbar and lock Rob Harley - have been released.

Smith injured his shoulder in Warriors' 9-3 win over Ospreys on Friday, while wing Lee Jones sustained a knee injury.

Zander Fagerson and Fraser Brown will also join the squad in camp this week.

Tight-head Fagerson and hooker Brown are close to comebacks from ankle and knee injuries respectively.

McDowall, 20, has represented Scotland at Under-18 and Under-20 level but has played only eight senior games - including six starts - for Glasgow.

The 6ft 4in centre, who can also play in the back three, signed his first professional contract with Warriors in December.

"Stafford is an up and coming player," said Scotland assistant coach Matt Taylor. "He has done really well with Glasgow and the coaches there think a lot of him. He played well at the weekend [against Ospreys] and it is good to have involved.

"He is quite a physically imposing type of guy, and he is going to develop nicely over the next few years."

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Hughes, who won the last of his four caps against Australia in June 2017, has recently returned to action after spending much of the last 18 months on the sidelines.

Pyrgos, capped 27 times, has been in outstanding form for Edinburgh this season since leaving Glasgow last summer.

He provides additional cover at scrum-half, with Warriors' George Horne "struggling a little bit" with a shoulder injury.

Captain Greig Laidlaw, who came through a half-hour outing as a replacement for Clermont Auvergne against Castres on Saturday, and Glasgow's Ali Price are favourites to be in the match-day squad against Italy.

Revised Scotland squad:

Forwards:

Props: Alex Allan (Glasgow Warriors), Allan Dell (Edinburgh), Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors); Simon Berghan (Edinburgh), Willem Nel (Edinburgh), D'Arcy Rae (Glasgow Warriors). Hookers: Dave Cherry (Edinburgh), Jake Kerr (Leicester Tigers), Stuart McInally (Edinburgh), Grant Stewart (Glasgow Warriors). Locks: Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh), Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs), Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors), Ben Toolis (Edinburgh). Back row: Adam Ashe (Glasgow Warriors), Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh), Gary Graham (Newcastle), John Hardie (Newcastle), Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh), Josh Strauss (Sale Sharks), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors).

Backs:

Back three: Darcy Graham (Edinburgh), Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors), Rory Hughes (Glasgow Warriors), Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh), Sean Maitland (Saracens), Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors). Centres: Chris Dean (Edinburgh), Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors), Chris Harris (Newcastle Falcons), Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors), Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors). Fly-halves: Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors), Finn Russell (Racing 92). Scrum-halves: George Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Greig Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne - captain), Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors), Henry Pyrgos (Edinburgh).