Alastair Kellock calls on Glasgow to buck the odds for final push

• Alastair Kellock was involved with Edinburgh when they got to the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup but tonight's Magners League play-off semi-final against Ospreys in Swansea's Liberty Stadium is the biggest occasion to date in his club career. Picture: SNS

Kellock left his native Bishopbriggs for Stirling to follow the inspiration of a late uncle and duly launched his professional career eight years ago with Edinburgh. The 6ft 8in second row was part of the squad that remains the only one in Scotland to have reached the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup, back in 2004, but he believes nothing outside of Test rugby compares to the challenge he is preparing for in Swansea's Liberty Stadium this evening.

It is often invidious to compare football with rugby, but at a time when Rangers are complaining about a lack of money it is instructive to appreciate that Glasgow's entire annual budget still equates to the salaries of just a handful of Ibrox stars. That is unlikely to change any time soon, but Kellock is hopeful that the interest around this season's rise among the big names of Irish and Welsh rugby will provide a significant boost to the oval-ball game on the west coast.

He said: "I have experienced a few big occasions following Rangers, and I've been lucky to enjoy some great days playing for Scotland, beating England and Australia, but this is definitely the biggest occasion in my club career. I was involved with Edinburgh when we got to the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup, but I wasn't playing much at that time.

"We want to be successful for ourselves but also because we know that the sport benefits across Scotland from success. Our crowds have risen this season and the supporters have been fantastic for us. There is a lot more awareness now that we've reached the play-offs.

"But we're not getting carried away either. Success for us is not just getting to the semi-finals. We want to go on and win this league. It's a huge challenge, but what I've said to the guys this week is that we have to give everything we have to this one 80 minutes; leave absolutely nothing to chance, and believe.

"We can't control their performance or refereeing decisions, but we can make sure we run out there at the Liberty Stadium with a winning attitude, and I firmly believe that if we produce our best performance we will win this game."

Kellock is a deeply-spoken realist. He accepts that the Ospreys are the favourites tonight, but he also knows, from the defeat suffered at Firhill and 9-9 draw with a weakened Ospreys side at the Liberty earlier this season, that the hosts can be rattled and beaten.

The key lies with being able to match the Ospreys' hugely physical forwards. With Moray Low back at tighthead, a strong scrummager in the No 1 jersey in Ed Kalman and the big Ulster lock Tim Barker alongside Kellock in the second row Glasgow, switched on, have the arsenal to compete well at scrum-time.

There are few to compare with Kellock's aerial ability and lineout organisation, though the Ospreys' ability to attack the set-piece makes them a potent threat. But where they really dominate teams is when the ball goes into contact; when players are tackled and their back row fly into the melee and batter bodies out of the way.

Jerry Collins was renowned in world rugby for his power as an All Black, and while slower now in his thirties, he retains a physical presence and nous that makes him a tough opponent to outshine.

Marty Holah, similarly, the All Blacks openside, picks and chooses when he goes in for the ball, but does so with incredible accuracy. And then you have the Wales skipper, Ryan Jones, a beast of a man who can also play a bit with ball in hand.

When they win ball the likes of Mike Phillips and James Hook have many ideas what to do with it, and most come with their own alarm bells, while the outside backs of Shane Williams, Tommy Bowe and Lee Byrne are quite simply among the best finishers in world rugby.

All of that is a given. When the Ospreys do not get ball as and when they like it, however, the potency of such performers can be drained. They can look distinctly average. Their experience is such that they will bide their time, ask young fly-half Dan Biggar to send kicks downfield and wait until the chances re-appear, which is why opponents often suffer in the final quarter.

But Glasgow have a back row in Kelly Brown, John Barclay and Johnnie Beattie that was among the best units in the entire RBS Six Nations. Against two All Blacks and a British and Irish Lion combo, this is arguably a stiffer test than any they have faced this year. But, if they can get underneath Collins et al, and frustrate them at the epicentre, Glasgow have a chance.

They also need Mark McMillan to be sharp at scrum-half and Dan Parks to be brave, to blend his fine kicking skills with some gambles that allow Graeme Morrison and Max Evans to ask searching questions of the Ospreys' famed blitz defence. Evans is crucial to Glasgow's hopes of reaching the Grand Final, as a defensive cog against an outstanding back line, an unpredictable attacking threat and a link-man inside and outside.

Neither Kellock nor Glasgow have beaten the Ospreys in Wales, the hosts have not lost there since September and are blessed with many players experienced enough to know how to switch on at the business end of a season, when the silverware hoves into view. Expectations on them are huge.

Kellock added: "We know the Ospreys well from recent years and we know their strengths, but this is a Glasgow squad that is developing and maturing and setting new standards.

"I have enjoyed watching the excitement Rangers' success brings to Glasgow, but I knew from an early age I'd be more suited to rugby and it's in games like these where my memories are made. This is a game we'll look back on in years to come, so I've said to the guys to make it the best memory we possibly can.

""Interest in Glasgow rugby is growing and part of that is because youngsters now can aspire to play for the Warriors. There is a lot of good work going on at clubs around Glasgow and we are moving into great facilities at Scotstoun this summer, and we've got to continue to take steps forward.

"We can't say we should have bigger crowds, more interest in Glasgow rugby or this or that. We have to go out and earn it. The focus is on us as players to deliver something special for Glasgow and that's what we will try to do in Wales in this game."