Scotland have received a major boost for their vital Six Nations tie with Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday with Northampton prop Euan Murray recovering from injury to take his place in the starting line-up.

Murray missed Scotland's opening losses to Wales and France due to a rib injury, but will pack down alongside Ross Ford and Allan Jacobsen against the robust Italian front-row.

The only other change to the side that lost at the Stade de France is in the second-row, where Glasgow's Alastair Kellock joins Jason White after Jim Hamilton was ruled out with a shoulder injury.

Mike Blair skippers the side from scrum-half while the Evans brothers, Max and Thom, retain their places at outside-centre and wing respectively. Chris Paterson is again named on the bench, with Hugo Southwell retaining the fullback jersey.

"We took a bold approach to selection last week and performed bravely in Paris," said Scotland coach Frank Hadden. "The approach to this game remains the same. We are delighted to recall Euan Murray and bring someone as experienced as Al Kellock in to replace Jim Hamilton.

"We will be facing a better defence and scrummage than we did against France, but there are other aspects of the Italian team that we will be hoping to capitalise on. We are aware that we must continue to show the progress that we have shown during the first two games. We must make every effort to get the fans behind us, right from the start."

Murray was quick to quell any thoughts that he could single-handedly turn around Scotland's Six Nations campaign, emphasising the loss of Nathan Hines and his second-row partner Jim Hamilton.

"It's eight guys working together and if any individuals think they're better than they are then pride comes before a fall," said Murray. "We've got to work hard together, work for each other and try to put things right.

"There are other players who weren't involved in the first two games of the Six Nations who were in the autumn," he said. "Nathan Hines wasn't there and the second row has a massive impact on a game of rugby. That's where a lot of the power comes from in the scrums."

Murray's return will be a great boost to Scotland however, and their management will also be happy that he was able to come through Northampton's Guinness Premiership loss to Wasps on Sunday unscathed.

"I wasn't expecting to be fit as soon as I have been. To be involved in a Premiership game leading into a Six Nations game was a massive bonus for me," he said. "To get through unscathed was another bonus, and to manage 80 minutes I was very pleased with. So, I think it's good preparation for this week.

"I wouldn't go and play a game if I didn't feel ready. It would wake me up in the night because my rib cartilage would pop out," he said. "Some things were painful to do. Sometimes I'd be sitting on the couch and it'd just pop out. I thought, 'I don't think I'm going to be fit for the Italy game, let alone the Wasps game'. But I managed to get through training without any pain and the ultimate test was to play a game. I played the game and got through it fine."

Italy visit Murrayfield on Saturday for the first time since their remarkable 37-17 win in 2007, a game that Murray has been swift to forget.

"I blanked it - it's erased!" he joked. "It's disappointing, obviously, but it's all in the past. We're a different team now, we've got a lot more experience. All I can say is that, for this game, we'll go in as a pack with a mindset to knock them back and to be dominant. That's our aim.

"And we'll go in with confidence because if we don't have confidence then there's no point in being on the field."

Scotland: Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh); Simon Danielli (Ulster), Max Evans (Glasgow Warriors), Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors); Phil Godman (Edinburgh), Mike Blair (Edinburgh, capt); Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh), Ross Ford (Edinburgh), Euan Murray (Northampton Saints), Jason White (Sale Sharks), Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester), Simon Taylor (Stade Francais), John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors)

Replacements: Dougie Hall (Glasgow Warriors), Alasdair Dickinson (Gloucester), Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Gray (Northampton Saints), Chris Cusiter (Perpignan), Chris Paterson (Edinburgh), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh)