Townsend's Warriors reign began with a 18-10 reverse away at Ulster and he brings in six internationals for the visit of the Scarlets in their first match at Scotstoun.

Indications are already that the Warriors will enjoy a healthy support at their new home but Townsend maintains his side have to focus on the job at hand.

"Friday is a massive night for the whole of Glasgow Warriors: supporters, players, coaches and staff," he said.

"A lot of hard work has gone into making the move to Scotstoun a reality, and we as team and coaching group want to do our bit to get things off to a flying start by recording a win.

"There will be a lot of emotion attached to the occasion with us taking up residence in our own home for the first time in our history, but we've got to make sure we keep our focus and play with discipline, precision and aggression.

"We want to get the great Glasgow crowd right behind us from the start, and there's no doubt they'll have their part to play.

"As Scarlets showed by beating Leinster last week, they're a very talented and hard working side, so we know it's going to take a concerted effort from all concerned to land the result we all want."

Canadian winger DTH van der Merwe is recalled to the backline alongside Scotland half-backs Chris Cusiter and Ruaridh Jackson while there is a brand-new front row in the shape of Ryan Grant, Pat MacArthur, and Moray Low.

Flanker John Barclay is the final change at openside flanker and Townsend admits he was influenced by the impact of his replacements at Ravenhill.

He added: "Ryan Grant and Moray Low both performed very well off the bench in Ulster, as did John Barclay, Chris Cusiter and Ruaridh Jackson, all of whom start this week.

"Ruaridh has applied himself excellently in training, working on various aspects of his game that will allow him to make even more of an impact.

"Duncan [Weir] wasn't helped last week by the indiscipline we showed, and we're well aware of how effective he can be when given a better platform.

"He and the other guys who will be on the bench come Friday have a massive role to play - we'll be looking to them to have a similar impact to that produced by the replacements who came on against Ulster.

"To a man, the players are looking forward to getting out there and showing how proud they are to pull on a Glasgow Warriors shirt in the inspiring setting that our new stadium undoubtedly represents."

The Warriors, despite finishing fourth last season, have a poor record against Welsh opposition, winning just one of their last nine matches.

And the Scarlets will be brimming with confidence having handed Heineken Cup champions Leinster a 45-20 thrashing.

Further firepower is added to the backline in the form of Wales fly-half Rhys Priestland and centre Jonathan Davies while Matthew Rees comes in at hooker and Jonathan Edwards at openside.

As usual the Scarlets backline got all the plaudits for scoring six of their seven tries but forwards coach Danny Wilson maintains the contribution of the pack should not be overlooked.

He said: "It was my first taste of what the boys could do in a competitive fixture against a Leinster pack made up of quality, experienced professionals and we were pleased with the performance - however it means nothing unless we back it up this weekend.

"With a level of consistency in our game up front, we can unleash our back line and we saw at the weekend how very potent it is. There's some work to do with our scrum, but the line-out functioned well last weekend. We went into the game with a confidence and intent to put pressure on them up front and it went our way.

"There's a very strong work ethic and ambition in this Scarlets group and the boys know that there's plenty competition for places. We need to build continuity in our performance and there's a lot of that reflected in our selection this weekend but we also need to rotate some players to ensure we keep building our depth and give opportunities across our squad.

"There's a lot of rugby ahead of us so it's important we build a strong squad - as opposed to just a team."

At Scotstoun Stadium, 7.35pm.

Referee: Dudley Phillips (IRFU, 27th competition game)
Assistant Referees: David Changleng, Graeme Marshall (both SRU)
Citing Commissioner: Douglas Hunter (SRU)
TMO: Jim Yuille (SRU)
Live on BBC ALBA