Gregor Townsend admits it will be tougher for fringe players to force their way into Scotland contention a year out from the World Cup after selecting just five Edinburgh players for his Nations Championship squad.Nineteen Glasgow Warriors stars are named in the 37-strong selection, while Newcastle’s Ollie Leatherbarrow is the only uncapped player to feature after earning a maiden call-up for matches against New Zealand, Australia, Japan and then a finals play-off in London.Edinburgh have made a strong start to the season and sit top of the United Rugby Championship after four wins from four but there is still no place for senior players Grant Gilchrist and Magnus Bradbury or promising talent like Freddie Douglas, Ollie Blyth-Lafferty or Hector Patterson.Duhan van der Merwe does make it in from the capital club despite ongoing injury issues, while Glasgow’s New Zealand-born full-back Josh McKay has been left out for now after qualifying on residential grounds but could yet earn a call-up later in the series.Townsend insists he has been impressed with Edinburgh’s revival this season but felt he had to stay loyal to those players who had performed well for him in recent years. And with no autumn Tests this time against a lesser light like Portugal or the USA, and the World Cup now just a year away, the head coach believes the time for experimentation has passed. Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has ignored the claims of some in-form Edinburgh menHe said: ‘It’s been great seeing the young guys at Edinburgh playing so well. But it’s harder for them to break into the national team when we’ve got a settled squad. We had a good season and there are not many changes from summer.‘And the guys that have come back in — Jamie Ritchie, Blair Kinghorn, Huw Jones — are 50-plus cappers who’ve played really well for us in the past. We want our strongest squad now competing for positions going into the New Zealand game, the Australia game, and also putting their hands up for the World Cup.‘We’ve done a lot of increasing the depth and having those tours where we see different players. We also tend to have a fourth game in the November series where it’s not been a top 10 team. That’s all changed now. It’s quality sides. I don’t think it’ll be experimenting any more but it’ll be managing the group.‘We now have to build on the cohesion that the guys are showing so we can go to the World Cup with a settled squad. You would have to look at which Glasgow players would have to be dropped for other players from other teams. It has been a settled squad for a reason.‘But the cohesion too, of players playing with each other, makes things easier for us as a coaching team, working with players who are training with each other week on week.‘And there are some Glasgow players who are unfortunate to miss out too. It’s a good situation we’re in. More and more Scottish players are coming through each pro team and playing well.’ Newcastle’s Ollie Leatherbarrow has been selected for Townsend’s squad for the first timeLeatherbarrow’s inclusion was the name that caught the eye, with Townsend – who insists his Red Bull connection wasn’t a factor – explaining why the 24-year-old has been included at this point.‘Hopefully he’ll get opportunities in the next few weeks because he’s playing really well. We know he can cover all three positions in the back row. He’s a very good ball carrier. He’s an open-side by trade, but he’s played a lot of rugby at six and eight. We feel his form at the end of last season, and especially at the beginning of this season, gives us an opportunity to look at someone else.’Van der Merwe’s first appearance of the season on Friday night lasted just 18 minutes before he departed Edinburgh’s win over the Lions with a hand injury. Townsend, though, allayed fears about its seriousness and expects the winger to be fit and available this weekend.‘It was a much better outcome than it looked at the time,’ he added. ‘I think they diagnosed it as a compound dislocation which means the bone was sticking out when he went to hospital but it turned out it wasn’t as serious as that.‘We expect him to train on Tuesday. I won’t give any secrets away but he’ll probably be playing this weekend.’Gilchrist is another player who has just returned from injury. The 36-year-old has been left out for this series but Townsend insists the door isn’t closed on the veteran lock’s World Cup dream. Duhan van der Merwe has returned to the squad after Townsend dismissed injury concerns‘Grant played in some of our best games last year,’ he added. ‘He’s still playing some of his best rugby, off the bench against France, 80 minutes away in Ireland. We know what he can bring. We’ve talked about that position for a number of years. It’s a real strength of our game. On this occasion, Grant misses out.’McKay isn’t eligible until the Japan game and Townsend revealed the Glasgow full-back could be called up before then.‘We’ve not made that decision yet. Josh is going to be with Glasgow this week as they prepare for a game but we’ll have another think after next weekend. He’s very, very keen. I spoke to him a few months ago. That was in a pub so it was quite a relaxed chat! Then we had a more formal chat a few weeks ago.‘Obviously, he’s not in the current squad, but he’s aware that we enjoy what he does on the field, how hard he works with his teammates and what he brings at 15. We’ll see how things progress over the next few weeks.’Scotland squad and fixtures for Nations Championship – Forwards: Ewan Ashman, Josh Bayliss, Gregor Brown, Scott Cummings, Alex Craig, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey, Matt Fagerson, Zander Fagerson, Jonny Gray, Gregor Hiddleston, Will Hurd, Ollie Leatherbarrow, Nathan McBeth, Liam McConnell, Elliot Millar Mills, Jamie Ritchie, Pierre Schoeman, Rory Sutherland, Seb Stephen, Max Williamson. Backs: Fergus Burke, Jamie Dobie, Darcy Graham, George Horne, Rory Hutchinson, Huw Jones, Tom Jordan, Blair Kinghorn, Stafford McDowall, Kyle Rowe, Finn Russell, Ollie Smith, Kyle Steyn, Sione Tuipulotu (captain), Duhan van der Merwe, Ben White.Saturday, November 7: Scotland v New ZealandSunday, November 15: Scotland v AustraliaSaturday, November 21: Scotland v Japan