LEE Jones will make his long-awaited return for Glasgow tonight, almost two years after he last played.

A long-term knee injury sustained in January 2019 was followed by a series of setbacks, but the winger is finally ready to resume in the No.14 jersey against Cardiff as one of three changes by Danny Wilson to the Warriors’ starting line-up. He takes over from Tommy Seymour, who has yet to pass his concussion protocols after being injured in Monday’s defeat by Munster.

Ratu Tagive returns on the left wing, replacing Robbie Nairn, and Kiran McDonald is back at lock as part of a pack reshuffle which sees Rob Harley move to the back row and TJ Ioane drop to the bench. Ioane will be joined there by Huw Jones, who has been released by Scotland.

“It’s great for Lee – brilliant to see him back,” the head coach said after naming his squad. “It’s been 22 months since he last played.

“Fair play to Lee. He’s grinded and grinded, worked really hard, and had a fair amount of bad luck with injury and it’s brilliant now to see him fit. He’s done a lot of work in that dark place on your own doing rehab and now he’s back available. So brilliant, and hopefully he’ll go well in the future.

“He’s excited about the game and pleased to be back. I’ve spoken to him a couple of times and his answers are very positive. It’s been a long time for him. For any player in that situation getting that first game under their belt gives them a massive shot of confidence, and then they can build from there.”

Glasgow Warriors (v Cardiff Blues at Rodney Parade, Newport, 7.35pm): G Bryce; L Jones, N Grigg, R Fergusson, R Tagive; P Horne, S Kennedy; A Seiuli, G Stewart, E Pieretto, L Bean, K McDonald, R Harley, T Gordon, R Wilson (captain). Substitutes: J Matthews, A Allan, D Rae, F Lokotui, T Ioane, J Dobie, B Thomson, H Jones.

Cardiff Blues: M Morgan; O Lane, R Lee-Lo, B Thomas, A Summerhill; J Evans, T Williams; B Thyer, K Dacey (captain), D Arhip, B Murphy, R Thornton, J Ratti, G Bradley, J Turnbull. Substitutes: E Lewis, C Domachowski, K Assiratti, A Lawrence, S Moore, J Hill, M Grady, H Amos.