Defeat at Ulster last week left them 10 points off the pace of the fourth-placed Ospreys and seven adrift of this week’s opponents, who have two games in hand, as the domestic campaign enters its closing stages.
But a win against the Warriors would really raise hopes of back-to-back semi-final spots given that four of their final five fixtures are at home and all are against sides lower than them in the league table.
They take plenty of positives with them to Scotland after their loss in Northern Ireland was preceded by a hat-trick of PRO12 wins, including a hard-fought home triumph against previous pace setters Munster.
Simon Easterby’s side will be looking to gain revenge for their 17-12 defeat to the Scots at Parc y Scarlets in October by winning for the second time in Scotland this season following a convincing 22-9 victory at Edinburgh in Round 4.
Easterby is expected to be boosted by the return of a host of Wales stars, with the likes of Jonathan Davies, Liam Williams, Rhodri Williams, Jake Ball, Rhodri Jones and Ken Owens all having featured against Scotland a day after their regional colleagues had been beaten 26-13 in Belfast. Fly-half Rhys Priestland is an injury doubt, however.
The omens are positive for the Scarlets in that they have won on their last three visits to Scotland and on two of their three most-recent trips to Glasgow. And with the Warriors’ 8-6 win over Connacht preceded by four straight defeats at Scotstoun in all competitions, the Scarlets have nothing to fear heading north, even though their hosts could have American speedster Carlin Isles in their side or the first time.
The Scarlets’ cause will be boosted by the fact that Glasgow will be without British & Irish Lions full back Stuart Hogg after the 21-year-old was suspended for three weeks following his sending off at the Millennium Stadium. Hogg was dismissed for a dangerous late tackle on Dan Biggar and won’t feature on Saturday, or against the Ospreys and Treviso, as a result.
