Sean Lineen wants Warriors to seize the initiative against Edinburgh

Head coach Sean Lineen has called on his Glasgow Warriors side to take the initiative in Sunday’s RaboDirect PRO12 derby with Edinburgh.

The first leg of the 1872 Cup was a 23-23 draw at Murrayfield on Monday and Sunday’s return at Firhill will decide the destination of the trophy, which celebrates the first fixture between the sides.

The Warriors came from 10 points down to draw and Ruaridh Jackson missed two kicks in blustery conditions to win the game after scoring the equalising try.

Lineen hopes to break Glasgow’s habit of starting slowly and leaving it late to respond, beginning in the return derby clash.

The head coach told www.glasgowwarriors.org: “We really want to assert our own game and ensure it’s the opposition that are scrambling to stay in contention.

“Key to that is starting better than we have in the last few matches, and we’ve spoken on the topic this week.

“As with our other recent draws on the road at Dragons and Montpellier, it’s indicative of the standards we’ve set ourselves that we came away from Murrayfield feeling unsatisfied.

“Yet again the players showed great character and spirit to claw their way back into the match, but we’re all very keen to stop putting ourselves in positions where we need to do that.

“As a coaching team, we’ve been delighted with the way the guys have been hanging tough and found a way to achieve what have been very respectable results on our travels of late.

“What we’re really excited to see is how much more we’re capable of if we play on the front foot from the start and bring our attacking threats into the game more consistently.”

Among the Warriors’ attacking options is Stuart Hogg, who will move to outside centre from full-back for the match after agreeing a professional contract until May 2015.

With one eye on the resumption of the Heineken Cup, Glasgow have made seven changes for the Firhill clash, with prop Ryan Grant (ankle) and back Rory Lamont (head knock) unavailable.

Edinburgh have made 13 changes, with only Kyle Traynor and Netani Talei retained in the team and Scotland internationals Simon Webster, Alan MacDonald and Phil Godman all returning.