GLASGOW Warriors go into their Champions Cup quarter-final against Saracens on the back of Saturday’s morale-boosting win over Connacht - and captain-for-the-night Peter Horne is sure his team can upset the odds against the London team.

A try minutes from time by veteran winger Sean Lamont gave the home team the bonus point in their 35-24 win to help keep their play-off hopes alive. Horne knows the match on Sunday against the English and European champions will be tough, and that the Warriors have been given no chance by some people, but he is encouraged by memories of his side being written off before matches which they have gone on to win.

“We’ve had that for years, but it doesn’t really matter,” Horne said after the game at Scotstoun. “In our dressing-room we believe we’ve got the firepower to beat anyone, so we’ll be going down there with the bit between our teeth looking to turn them over.

“We’re in a great place. It’s great to have the Scotland boys back - they’ve come back full of beans and really lifted training last week. It was great to see them all out having fun, smiles on their faces.

“It’s a massive week. We’re not celebrating being in that quarter-final. We’re in this competition to win it, and we need to make sure that we turn up and put in a good performance.”

After being out through injury earlier in the year, Horne is again match-fit and getting back to his best form, but whether that will be enough for a starting place against Saracens remains to be seen. “When I got injured I said my goal was to try and get back involved for this quarter-final,” he said. “Every day of my rehab it was in the back of my mind.

“That’s me had four games in a row now - four 80 minutes for the first time since last season. I’m feeling better. Every week I’m improving. I’ll be looking to work my nuts off this week and put my hand up for selection again.”

Jonny Gray, Ryan Wilson, Tommy Seymour and Zander Fagerson are all expected to be available this weekend after being rested on Saturday, but there are doubts over Tim Swinson and Gordon Reid. Swinson was sent off in the second half for going into a tackle with a swinging arm and will miss the Saracens match unless he wins an appeal, while Reid was taken off with a head knock so faces fitness tests before being cleared to play.

The Warriors trailed 13-15 at half-time against Connacht, with hooker Corey Flynn grabbing their only try of the first 40. But they got stronger the longer the game went on, and tries from half-backs Finn Russell and Ali Price put them in command before Lamont rounded things off. Russell added three conversions and a penalty to his personal tally, while Horne was on target with a penalty after the stand-off had gone off.

“There were a lot of positives against Connacht, but also areas where we have to get better,” head coach Gregor Townsend said. “Another week of preparation will help us a lot.

“We can spring a surprise [against Saracens]. We’ve got a belief that we can go down there and win. We have to have that mindset.”