Hamish Watson: Edinburgh can't rely on surprise element next season
Last updated on .From the section Scottish Rugby
Scotland flanker Hamish Watson believes it will be harder for Edinburgh to match last season's success without the "element of surprise" of last term.
But he insists they should still target another run to the Pro14 play-offs.
The capital side won 15 of their 21 regular-season games before losing to Munster in the play-off quarter-finals.
"This year, I think it will be harder because we won't have that element of surprise," Watson, who missed the end of the season, told BBC Scotland.
"People are going to know how well we did last year and definitely not under-estimate us.
"In that way, I think it will be harder to get those results as people are going to be preparing for us knowing we did so well last season.
"But, as a player group and coaching staff, we need to build on that and definitely get to the play-offs again."
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Open-side Watson, who started all of Scotland's eight Tests last season, did not play for Edinburgh after the Six Nations, undergoing shoulder surgery in April and ruling him out of Scotland's summer tour.
"I am about nine weeks post-op now," explained the 26-year-old. "I started running after four weeks and have started upper-body weights.
"I think I should be back in another six weeks, so I will definitely be back for the pre-season games.
"It was pretty tough missing those last few Edinburgh games of the season. That is the best Edinburgh have done since I have been at the club and missing those games was quite tough.
"But, if ever there was a good time to have an injury, this is the time over the summer, when there are not that many games.
"Next year is such a big year for the club - and hopefully internationally as well. So it was definitely the right time to do it."
Watson's club and international team-mate WP Nel is also on the comeback trail after a "clean-up" operation on his knee.
The South Africa-born prop, 32, has suffered a serious of injuries since establishing himself as Scotland's first-choice tight-head in 2015, including a career-threatening neck injury and a broken arm in the first autumn Test in November against Samoa.
"My fitness is coming; the body is feeling good," Nel said.
"The knee is holding me back a little bit at the moment, but otherwise the mind is feeling fresh and ready to go for the new season.
"I will be fully fit in four or five weeks, so hopefully I can crack on then."
Edinburgh. who reached the quarter-finals of the second-tier European Challenge Cup last season, will discover on Wednesday who they will face in next season's Heineken European Cup after qualifying for the elite tournament for the first time in four years.
