THE numbers may still not add up for Glasgow Warriors.

Despite that, Tim Swinson has insisted the team will not count themselves out of the PRO12 play-off places just yet as they put thoughts of a countdown conundrum to one side in pursuit of winning their remaining games.

The Warriors beat Newport Gwent Dragons 47-17 at Scotstoun on Saturday to end a run of three losses in the league. However, even if they win the five matches they have left, that may not be enough for them to get back into the top four and claim a place in the semi-finals.

Not daunted by the arithmetic, Glasgow forward Swinson is eager to block out the uncontrollables, and said: “We’re rugby players: maths isn’t our strong suit usually.

“The point is we’ve just got to go through and win

“Results like this where we’ve got five points are fantastic. If we do that until the end of the season then we’re putting ourselves into the best state to get into the play-offs.

"So that’s what we’ve got to aim for.”

After losing to the Ospreys, Ulster and the Scarlets last month, the Warriors certainly needed to get back on course against the Dragons, and they did so after a strange first quarter in which little went right for them. The Welsh side took the lead with a penalty and added a converted try before Glasgow got their act together, but when they did there was no stopping them.

Two converted tries from the outstanding Nick Grigg put the home team in front at the break, and Rory Hughes and Ratu Tagive made sure of the bonus point in the early stages of the second half. Lee Jones, Mark Bennett and Peter Horne were all on the scoresheet too, and the stand-off had an excellent day with the boot, converting all of his team’s tries bar the Jones score. A late Dragons try was no more than a minor annoyance.

“There was a period of 45 or 50 minutes when we scored 47 points without reply,” Swinson added. “The team we had out was a mixture of guys coming back from Scotland, guys who have been here for a short time and guys who have been here for a longer time and not played for a few weeks. So it was good that we got a little bit of teething problems out of the way, then when we found our rhythm in the middle period we were pretty good - pretty effective at playing at pace, which was fantastic to see.”

The Warriors should have most if not all of their internationals back for the next league match against Connacht on 25 March. But Richie Vernon may be out for some time after being injured again - this time with what the head coach thought could be achilles damage. The No.8 went off just before half-time, while Hughes was replaced just after his try because of a knee knock.

Even if they win all of their remaining games with bonus points, Glasgow’s final tally will be 71 points. That total should easily be bettered by the current top three - Leinster, Ospreys and Munster - leaving the Warriors needing to overtake both Ulster and Scarlets.

“We’ll see how the other teams do,” head coach Gregor Townsend said. “Scarlets have had a fantastic Six Nations period and they had a great win away to Munster. We all realise that it’s going to have to be wins from here in. If we can do that then that might put us in with a chance.”

Scorers: Glasgow: Tries: Grigg 2, Hughes, Tagive, Jones, Bennett, Horne. Cons: Horne 6.

Dragons: Tries: Landman, Morgan. Cons: O’Brien, Jones. Pen: O’Brien.

Referee: A Brace (Ireland). Attendance: 7096.

GLASGOW’S REMAINING LEAGUE GAMES

25 March: Connacht (H)

8 April: Munster (A)

14 April: Zebre (H)

28/29 April (date tbc): Leinster (A)

6 May: Edinburgh (H)