GLASGOW Warriors playmaker Finn Russell has had rave reviews in his last two games - but he can still get a lot better according to coach Gregor Townsend.

The stand-off was outstanding in his team’s back-to-back Champions Cup wins over Racing 92 earlier this month and is now one of Scotland’s leading contenders for a place in the British and Irish Lions squad that will tour New Zealand next summer. Townsend, who was a stand-off himself and played for the Lions on their victorious 1997 tour to South Africa, is sure that the 24-year-old will continue to improve the more experience he has of big matches.

“He loves a challenge, he loves big games,” Townsend said of Russell, who will be in his usual No 10 jersey for today’s 1872 Cup match at Murrayfield against Edinburgh. “There’s a lot more to come from Finn and a lot more to come out of his game.

“He can play better - a lot better. I thought he played better in the away game [against Racing]. He’s full of confidence, his running game is coming through, he’s taking defences on with ball in hand and some of his kicking has been excellent.

“He’s the first to admit that there are two or three things that he’d like to have back again. That happens a lot at 10 as you have so many decisions to make. It helps you making decisions through experience.”

With a player like Russell who can be inconsistent as well as inspired, some coaches might be tempted to try to lay down the law and give them a detailed game plan to follow. But Townsend is confident in his stand-off and in his other players, and thinks the key to helping them improve is to get them to think about how they have played rather than simply telling them what they should have done.

“You learn from your action. When you’re dealing with a player like Finn, he knows; you’re not telling him something new. You ask him the question what could you have done differently, what was the speed of ball, where were the defence? He’ll probably say ‘I knew straight away that I should have done x rather than y’.

“Like any of our players, we want to express themselves, play to their strengths, be confident in their own ability. He’s obviously very confident just now, going to bottle that and keep that for the rest of his career.”

Russell’s duel with ex-Warriors team-mate Duncan Weir should be one of the highlights of this afternoon’s match, and Weir and the rest of the Edinburgh are certain to try and stop him getting into his stride. But Townsend warned that that is easier said than done, because of you try to shut down one side of Russell’s game, he has the skill to turn to a different tactic instead.

“He’s got an all-round game. He’s got a passing ability, a very good kicking ability that we’ve seen in recent weeks, and a running ability. So if you think about putting his kicking under pressure, he might step you or he might pass.

“If you think he’s going to pass a lot and drift off him, he might run. He’s shown in the last few weeks, specially with his running game, that he can make breaks and not just the guys outside him.”