Greig Laidlaw has been buoyed by the arrival of Michael Bradley at Edinburgh © Getty Images

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Edinburgh have made a poor start to the new season but captain Greig Laidlaw does not believe that new coach Michael Bradley deserves any flak for the team's poor form.

The Scottish side have won just two of their opening six fixtures in the RaboDirect PRO12 but Laidlaw insists that he and his team-mates are enjoying life under Bradley, who has put a real emphasis on youth since arriving at Murrayfield.

Consequently, Laidlaw is looking forward to the commencement of Edinburgh's Heineken Cup campaign with real optimism.

"Michael's settled in well," the scrum-half said. "He's brought some new ideas. He wants to change the perception of Edinburgh and he wants us to toughen up a bit. He's putting his own stamp on things and, hopefully, things will work well for him.

"It's a good thing that Michael's signing up our good young players. In the past, they've been left hanging on for too long with a lot of uncertainty and that's not good for the Club. What Michael's trying to do is right and that can bring stability to Edinburgh in the long-term.

"Personally, I've been enjoying it so far. It's been a tough couple of months but I don't think we're too far away. It was a big year for me last year and I'm looking to push on. The Scottish boys coming back in will help massively and the Heineken Cup is a challenge we're looking forward to."

Edinburgh have made the quarter-finals of European rugby's premier competition just once, in 2004, but Laidlaw believes that they are capable of making a big impact this term, starting with Saturday week's clash with London Irish at the Madjeski Stadium.

"The Heineken Cup brings a freshness to things," he said. "We've been struggling a bit in the Rabo but we can look forward to the Heineken Cup in a fresh light. We've got nothing to lose going into the competition and that's the attitude we'll take into it.

"I've only played against London Irish once and that was last year in pre-season. It'll be a different ball game by the time the Heineken Cup comes around but it's a nice stadium and the boys are looking forward to going down there for a tough opening game.

"They chuck the ball about and so do we so it should be a good game. They're strong at home as well and not many sides go down there and turn them over.

"Edinburgh have only made the quarter finals once and that was a long time ago so we're looking for a good standard this year. The knockouts stages is everyone's target at the start of the competition and that's definitely the case for Edinburgh."