Scotland stand-off Gordon Ross was warming up in training

Ross was speaking as coach Frank Hadden's first training squad gathered ahead of the RBS 6 Nations campaign.

"I was disappointed to miss the autumn games, but I wasn't playing particularly well," said Ross.

"So it gave me a chance to get my confidence and form back down at Leeds. We've now had a couple of good results and that has helped me."

Leeds are still bottom of the Guinness Premiership but have shown improvement and came close to booking a Heineken Cup quarter-final place at the weekend after thumping the Blues 48-3.

Ross, Dan Parks and Chris Paterson are among the contenders touted to start the Six Nations campaign at stand-off.

There is a great excitement within the camp Gordon Ross

But the 27-year-old is pleased simply to be back among his international colleagues.

"As a club, we weren't playing with much confidence in November after losing seven out of seven at the start of the season," said Ross.

"We were going off in different patterns and not on the same lengths.

"So we had a few meetings to make sure we were singing from the same hymn sheet basically.

"That helped everyone and we started playing as one team and that made things a lot easier."

Scotland won only once in last season's tournament against Italy at Murrayfield and begin this year's campaign against France in Edinburgh on 5 February.

"We're all looking forward to the start of this championship as there is a great excitement within the camp," added Ross.

"The games can't come quickly enough."