Head coach Sean Lineen is shrugging off Glasgow's lengthy casualty list and the loss of key players as he looks ahead to the new season.

Dan Parks and Kelly Brown have moved on, while Al Kellock, John Barclay and Chris Cusiter are among those injured.

"We've had the best pre-season since I came here," said an upbeat Lineen.

"The players have worked incredibly hard and we got a lot out of our three warm-up games. Now it's time for the real business."

John Beattie, James Eddie, and Colin Gregor are other first team regulars missing the start of the campaign, which begins at home to Leinster on Friday.

"You can look at the flip side of the coin, say woe is me and go and jump off a bridge. But what's the point?" added Lineen.

MY SPORT: DEBATE Are Glasgow fans looking forward to the new season?

"We've got to get on with it. The players realise that and have come together really tightly.

"We've lost a bit of experience but we have a lot of energy and I'm really happy with the squad.

"The new guys and youngsters that have stepped up like Tom Ryder, Henry Pyrgos, Ryan Wilson and Ryan Grant; it's an opportunity for them.

"Richie Gray has only been here for one year, now he has to fill the shoes of Al Kellock.

"It's an opportunity for them to grow a bit quicker than maybe they would expect to but I'm really happy with what I've seen so far."

Glasgow reached last term's inaugural Magners League play-offs and much of that success was down to the prowess of the team's pack.

"It's the same the world over, forwards win the games and yet it's the backs that get a pat on the back and the adulation," said New Zealand-born Lineen.

"The forwards are crucial and it's great to see eight Scottish forwards working hard and getting stuck in.

"We have to build on what we did last season. It's all about momentum and getting the players buying into that.

"I've been really impressed by the attitude and what we want is for the guys playing now to make it nigh on impossible for the guys that are out to get back into the side."

Glasgow's international stars will, of course, return later in the season and Lineen stressed the importance of rotating his squad.

"There's the season management and there's the man-management," he explained. "Every player is different. You've got to get to know them and some don't like it when they don't get selected but we have to manage the season.

"We have to plan ahead.

"One of the reasons Scottish players come back to Scotland is that we look after them and it's a big season for some of the top players.

"There's a World Cup next year. Obviously a few of them are out and getting a rest now. We have to make sure we look after them but make sure we don't undercook the people who come along to support Glasgow.

"Recoveries come into it more now. In the old days, we'd smash the backside out of them every day. They'd be absolutely knackered and you thought 'I've ticked that box'.

"Nowadays less is more and it's the quality rather than quantity you get out them that's important. And we're working on that."

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