Gregor Townsend is delighted that his inspirational skipper Al Kellock will lead his Glasgow Warriors out against Connacht tonight.

The Scotland international has not featured for the Scotstoun club since their 34-12 defeat in last season's Pro12 final with surgery to correct a long-standing shoulder injury keeping him sidelined so far this term.

His rehabilitation has gone well and the Glasgow legend turned out for the club's 'A' squad in their 30-5 win over Edinburgh on Monday.

Coach Townsend now feels Kellock is in strong enough shape to return to top-team action as his men go for four wins from four tonight against the Irish.

And he admits it's excellent news for all at the Scotstoun club that their captain fantastic is back in business.

He said: "Connacht are one of the form teams in the league right now and had an impressive win against Leinster last weekend, which, combined with their win away in Toulouse last season, shows the progress that they are making under Pat Lam.

"Tonight's game is another big test for our squad, but one we're all looking forward to. It'll be good to be back home at Scotstoun, playing in front of our own supporters, after a couple of weeks on the road.

"We welcome Al Kellock, Tom Ryder and Finn Russell back from injury. They've all worked really hard to come back and it's great news that we can include them in our squad."

After joining from Munster in the summer, Irish centre James Downey makes his full debut for the club in the No.12 shirt, while Ryder and Russell could make their first appearances of the season from the bench.

Following last Saturday's 33-13 win over the Dragons in Newport, Stuart Hogg continues at full-back and DTH van der Merwe keeps his place on the left wing, with Sean Lamont coming in for Tommy Seymour on the opposite side.

It's a new centre partnership with Downey linking up with Mark Bennett in midfield, while Duncan Weir continues at fly-half and Henry Pyrgos comes in at scrum-half.

The only change in the front row sees Pat MacArthur taking over from Kevin Bryce at hooker, after recovering from a head knock, while Gordon Reid and Euan Murray continue at loose-head and tight-head respectively.

Kellock comes into the second-row in place of Leone Nakarawa and will partner Tim Swinson.

Chris Fusaro replaces the suspended Tyrone Holmes at open-side, while Adam Ashe takes over from Josh Strauss at No.8 and Rob Harley continues on the blind-side.