The Edinburgh Gunners No 8 has been sidelined since suffering cruciate knee ligament damage against Ireland 10 months ago, but club coach Frank Hadden has confirmed Taylor is close to a comeback.

Paterson believes the return of the back-row forward would give Scotland coach Matt Williams the perfect tonic.

Paterson said: Simon is a massive influence for us and is probably the only truly world-class player we have here in Scotland.

He has been a massive loss to us, so it is a great boost that he is not too far from playing again.

Simon has worked hard to get back because he is desperate to get back in and play the games.

He has had an horrendous injury but, as soon as he is on the pitch, you will see what a difference he makes.

He works very hard for his team-mates and we have clearly missed him when he has not been there.

The return of Taylor, who has 23 Scotland caps, is also crucial with Williams going into the new campaign with a young squad and problems in the back-row.

But Paterson is targeting a successful 2005 - with one eye on the Lions tour to New Zealand under head coach, Sir Clive Woodward.

The 26-year-old is determined to impress the tour selectors during the forthcoming RBS 6 Nations campaign.

Paterson said: Im only looking ahead a few months at the moment.

I have had an injury of my own and I want to get back to full fitness first and play for Scotland.

That is the first thing on my mind at the moment, but there are other big aims so then I will see what happens.