Edinburgh coach Rob Moffat has defended his decision to rest several key players for their trip to Ospreys.

The Welsh side, who included seven Lions tourists to the Gunners’ one, ran out comfortable 31-10 winners after Moffat decided to juggle his pack ahead of the Heineken Cup clash with Stade Francais.

It was Edinburgh’s second defeat on the trot after the home loss to Leinster but Moffat insists he was looking at the bigger picture.

“I will take the rap if we made too many changes but we will see if we did later in the season,” said Moffat.

“It’s very important to use the squad and give people a chance and we’ve got a short turn-around before we go to Paris.

“But we will need to be better defensively – we let in some simple tries. The Ospreys played well but we gave away some pretty soft tries.”