Scotland captain John Barclay expects a reaction to the drubbing at Twickenham from the team this weekend.

Italy provide the opposition at Murrayfield on the final Six Nations weekend of 2017 as the Scots look to pick themselves up from a bruising 61-21 defeat in the Calcutta Cup.

Barclay, who captains the side in the absence of the injured Greig Laidlaw, said that performance was an outlier and the team remains on a steady upward trajectory.

The Scarlets back row said: "I certainly believe we have been on the right path for a while now and I don't think anyone saw that game coming.

"I think it was a bump in the road - albeit a fairly big bump - but I think the boys remain confident and realise we need to right a few wrongs.

"There will be a reaction, I think that is natural. It makes you sick to watch it back - it was not easy to watch.

"All I can say is that I'm very confident there will be a positive reaction from the group."

The match against the Azzurri, who will be playing to avoid a whitewash of losses, will be head coach Vern Cotter's last game in charge as he leaves to be replaced by Gregor Townsend this summer.

Scotland are also battling to complete a clean sweep of home wins for the first time in the Six Nations era, with the chance to finish as runners-up to England also a possibility.

Barclay said: "There's one more game left against Italy and it is a huge game now.

"There's a chance to win three games from five, and to potentially finish second, which has never happened before.

"Vern has said from the start it is not about him or the coaches, it is about Scotland doing well and performing and doing the best we can in the championship."