WORCESTER Warriors back rower David Denton has been named in Scotland’s 40-man squad for the Six Nations.

The Zimbabwe-born 27-year-old will now be hoping to win his first cap since featuring in Scotland’s 26-13 win over Japan in June 2016.

Denton’s inclusion comes after a string of impressive performances for Warriors which saw him claim the club’s player of the month award for December.

The former Edinburgh forward has made 35 appearances for Scotland but injuries have forced him to be absent from test duty.

But since joining Warriors from Bath ahead of this season, Denton has scored four tries in 13 games and played in all five matches last month.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend, said: “With the announcement of this 40-man squad, we are now entering the key stages of our preparation for this year’s NatWest Six Nations Championship.

“It’s a bigger squad than we originally planned –which is largely down to the competition for places – with a number of players having performed well in the autumn Tests and a few others putting their hands up for selection in recent weeks.

“We welcome Blair Kinghorn into our group for the first time, who has been in excellent form with Edinburgh this season, and also three of our most experienced players in Richie Gray, Greig Laidlaw and Scott Lawson.

“We are looking forward to working with them and the rest of the squad to ensure that we build on the momentum the players generated in 2017.”

SCOTLAND SQUAD:  

Forwards: John Barclay (CAPTAIN / Scarlets), Simon Berghan (Edinburgh Rugby), Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors), Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh Rugby), David Denton (Worcester Warriors), Cornell Du Preez (Edinburgh Rugby), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby), Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors), Richie Gray (Toulouse), Luke Hamilton (Leicester Tigers), Rob Harley (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Lawson (Newcastle Falcons), Murray McCallum (Edinburgh Rugby), Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby), Gordon Reid (London Irish), D’arcy Rae (Glasgow Warriors), Ben Toolis (Edinburgh Rugby), George Turner (Glasgow Warriors), Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby), Jon Welsh (Newcastle Falcons), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors).

Backs: Mark Bennett (Edinburgh Rugby), Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors), Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors), Chris Harris (Newcastle Falcons), Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors), Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors), Lee Jones (Glasgow Warriors), Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby), Greig Laidlaw (ASM Clermont Auvergne), Sean Maitland (Saracens), Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks), Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors), Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors), Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors), Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors), Duncan Taylor (Saracens), Nathan Fowles (Edinburgh Rugby).