Scotland head coach Frank Hadden handed a massive vote of confidence to the players who battered England's pride at Murrayfield by originally only making two enforced changes for Saturday's clash with Italy.

Jason White, who began this season's RBS 6 Nations Championship as Scotland's on-field captain but suffered concussion against Wales, must again start on Hadden's bench as Ulster wing Simon Danielli and Glasgow Warriors hooker Fergus Thomson come in for the injured Rory Lamont and Ross Ford.

An injury later in the week to wing Nikki Walker meant further changes were required with Chris Paterson moving to No.11 and Dan Parks slotting in at flyhalf.

And Hadden insists his team will be trying to repeat the positives of their Calcutta Cup triumph, rather than dwelling on the mistakes they have made in the past.

The Rome clash offers Scotland a chance to erase the painful memory of the last time Hadden's men met Italy in the Six Nations.

The Azzurri grabbed three quick-fire tries in seven crazy minutes to race into an unassailable 21-point lead in Edinburgh last year, but Hadden stressed that will have no bearing on the approach to Saturday's encounter.

''We were in a different place then. We were trying to win the championship at that stage and so we took a few risks that didn't pay off,'' he said.

''This week we just want to make sure that we capitalise on the progress we've made and win the game.''

Hadden has no doubts about the credentials of Danielli and Thomson.

''Fergus took his opportunity off the bench extremely well last weekend and he thoroughly deserves his first start,'' said Hadden.

''He had one or two pretty abrasive carries, and his lineout was pretty good.

''That's the area where he has made the greatest progress this season. He was always a fiery character, but his lineout work has improved significantly.

''And Simon has been knocking on the door for some considerable time. The consistent quality of his performances has earned him the opportunity to restart his international career.''

Hadden's decision to reward the players who helped rescue a season which was going badly wrong means White must again bide his time before entering the action - despite the huge impact he made with a thundering hit on Paul Sackey after coming on against England.

Not that Hadden did not give serious thought to recalling his skipper.

''It was very tempting, but we felt it was right to start with the side that started last weekend,'' said Hadden.

Hadden also decided to stick with the high-risk strategy he used against England by naming five forwards and two backs on his bench.

''I've said before that I believe there should be 10 subs allowed in international rugby,'' he said.

''Whatever you do when picking seven there's an element of risk. But we feel it's worth it this weekend.

''I thought the impact the forward subs made last weekend was critical. At this stage of the Six Nations we would like to think they can make the same impact again. It's not something we do lightly.

''I don't want to tempt fate, but I've been coaching a long time and I've never had three injures in a backline yet.

''And we have a lot of confidence in the flexibility of our players. There are a lot of guys who have played in a lot of different positions: Chris Paterson, Hugo Southwell, even Mike Blair.

''So we felt we had enough quality cover thanks to the flexibility of the squad.''

Thomson has been capped seven times off the bench, having made his international debut against Ireland in Scotland's World Cup warm-up match last summer.

This will be his first start at international level, and Thomson said: ''You want to be starting - hopefully I can take my chance and put in a good performance.

''I was happy with my own performance [against England], it was obviously a forwards-orientated game so it was pretty physical - but it was good.

''Hopefully I can build on that this week and put in an even better one against Italy.''

Meanwhile, Danielli will be making his first Scotland start since February 2005 - and he is optimistic about being given the opportunity to show what he can do after such a lengthy spell out of favour.

Danielli said: ''The frustrating thing about playing wing can often be that the game and conditions dictate how often you are involved in the game.

''But I'm led to believe the conditions are going to be pretty good, so hopefully it will be an open, fast game, with some ball for the backs and a few tries.''

Italy coach Nick Mallett insists his side will not be looking for revenge when they play the Scots in Rome.

Scotland beat Italy 18-16 back in September to reach the quarter-finals of the 2007 World Cup, before Mallett took charge in October.

However Azzurri boss Mallett claims he is only interested in winning what he foresees being a tough final game of the tournament.

''I wasn't Italy coach back then, so there's no revenge to be taken,'' he said of Italy's last defeat to the Scots.

''I'm only thinking about this game. Scotland impressed me on Saturday against England, they're incredibly organised and for us, as always, it'll be a tough match.

''We want to win, and to win playing well as a group. We've shown in the first four games of the tournament that we can do good things both with the scrum as well as the three-quarters and that's why I say we want to win and want to do so with a great contribution from every man on the pitch.''

Mallett has made no changes for the game in Rome's Stadio Flaminio.

Despite seeing his team lose 25-13 to France in Paris at the weekend, Mallett has decided to give continuity to his side.

Calvisano's Alessandro Zanni will once again replace Mauro Bergamasco, who is unavailable through suspension.

The Azzurri go into the last encounter of this tournament looking for their first triumph in 2008 after four consecutive slips, but Mallett believes the home advantage could stand them in good stead.

He said: ''Italian fans are very passionate, and in the game against England they showed a splendid attitude toward our squad.

''They inspired us to give our best and were grateful to us despite the defeat.

''It'll be great to play Scotland in a Flaminio packed out with our supporters again.''

Since joining the championship back in 2000, Italy have beaten Scotland twice, including last year's 37-17 triumph at Murrayfield that marked their first win on the road.

Italy: A Marcato (Benetton Treviso); K Robertson (Montepaschi Viadana), G Canale (Clermont-Auvergne), Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais), E Galon (Overmach Cariparma); A Masi (Biarritz Olympique), S Picone (Benetton Treviso); A Lo Cicero (Racing-Metro), L Ghiraldini (Cammi Calvisano), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers), CA Del Fava (Ulster), M Bortolami (Gloucester), J Sole (Arix Viadana), A Zanni (Cammi Calvisano), S Parisse (Stade Francais).

Replacements: F Ongaro (Saracens), C Nieto (Gloucester), S Perugini (Toulouse), J Erasmus (Montepaschi Viadana), P Travagli (Overmach Cariparma), E Patrizio (Petrarca Padova), A Sgarbi (Benetton Treviso).

Scotland: H Southwell (Edinburgh); S Danielli (Ulster), S Webster (Edinburgh), G Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), C Paterson(Gloucester); D Parks (Glasgow Warriors), M Blair (Edinburgh, capt); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), F Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), E Murray (Northampton), N Hines (Perpignan), S MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), A Strokosch (Gloucester), S Taylor (Stade Francais), A Hogg (Edinburgh).

Replacements: S Lawson (Sale), A Dickinson (Gloucester), C Smith (Edinburgh), J White (Sale), K Brown (Glasgow Warriors), R Lawson (Gloucester), A Henderson (Glasgow Warriors).