Glasgow hero Chris Fusaro insisted Edinburgh can still wreck the Warriors’ Pro12 title dream, despite plunging to a new low.
The rag-tag capital brigade were blown away by league basement boys Zebre in Parma.
But cautious Fusaro stressed he and his high-flying mates will not be treating them as a soft touch in this weekend’s delayed New Year clash at Scotstoun.
“Form doesn’t matter when it comes to derbies,” he said.
To add to the woes of Edinburgh supremo Alan Solomons, his injury list is even longer in the wake of their latest defeat.
He said: “We didn’t play well in the first half but made changes and, in the second, showed a lot of grit. But our injury situation before and during the match made it very difficult for us and our set-piece got hammered.”
The 3-1 try-count told an accurate story as the capital side’s hopes of salvaging a European Champions Cup slot disappeared.
Edinburgh had broken the deadlock after just 60 seconds, thanks to a penalty by Carl Bezuidenhout, but they were under the cosh from then until the interval.
Zebre were level within seven minutes as Luciano Orquera followed suit at the other end. Giovani Venditti crashed over near the corner flag in the wake of patient build-up work.
Zebre stretched their lead through the boot of Gonzalo Garcia. Bezuidenhout clawed back three points with his second penalty, however it proved to be a brief interlude.
Garcia restored the home side’s advantage on the stroke of the break. Then Edinburgh wiped the sleep from their eyes and Matt Scott sparked a revival with a trademark try, goaled by Jack Cuthbert.
But the rally was short-lived and they were on the back foot again when Filippo Cristiano brushed off a series of weak challenges to reach the line.
Even worse was to come when Dion Berryman powered over for Zebre’s third try, goaled by Orquera.