Edinburgh assistant coach Duncan Hodge has called on his side to give Allan Jacobsen the perfect send-off in the final game of their RaboDirect PRO12 season against Newport Gwent Dragons on Friday.

Jacobsen, affectionately known as ‘Chunk’, will end a 16-year Edinburgh career and make his 285th club appearance against the team he made his 200th against in 2008.

Edinburgh have slipped to successive RaboDirect PRO12 defeats however and they have won just one of their last fixtures at Murrayfield.

Edinburgh's only victory over the Dragons in their last seven meetings was 22-15 at Murrayfield on 22 April 2011 and the Gunners have made just two changes from the side that faced Treviso last time out.

Greig Tonks and prop Willem Nel give the side a welcome boost and Hodge is desperate to see his side end their campaign on a high.

He said: “It’s a massive day for Chunk, he’s Edinburgh through and through, and played a record number of games.

"It’ll be an emotional day for him, but it comes to us all and it's been business as usual for the team.

"This is a must win game as we need continue to raise our levels of performance and put down some building blocks for next season.

"We’re playing a tough side with some very experienced players but we're in front of our home crowd in the last game of the season and you’ve just got to win those games.”

The Dragons, meanwhile, ended a four-game losing streak with victory over Munster last time out but they have not won back to back fixtures in the PRO12 since March 2012.

And the Men from Gwent's only away win this season in the tournament came on a visit to Zebre in February.

Head coach Darren Edwards has made just one change with Dan Evans returning at full-back which means recently selected Lions Dan Lydiate and Toby Faletau will both feature from the start.

And Lydiate, having missed so much of the season with an ankle injury, is determined to finish his season on a high.

“I've missed so much of the season I want to play games," he said.

"It's almost like I'm starting the season and I need game time. Maybe for some of the other boys they've had a long season and are nursing a few bumps and bruises and they might be thinking that, but I'm feeling quite fresh at the minute so I want to play.

"It's like an end of an era for me because I've been there [the Dragons] since I was a kid.

"It might be a bit emotional, but I'm looking forward to it, donning the jersey for the last time and wearing it with pride and hopefully putting in a good performance for them because they've been good to me throughout my career."

At Murrayfield , 7.45pm.
Referee: Marius Mitrea (FIR, 17th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Andy Macpherson, David Changleng (both SRU)
Citing Commissioner: Paul Minto (SRU)