GLASGOW assistant coach Pete Murchie expects a “full-throttle” encounter on Friday night when his team take on Ospreys in a must-win match at Scotstoun.

The Warriors are ten points behind the third-placed Welsh team in PRO14 Conference A, but have a game in hand, so a victory would put them right back in the hunt. A top-three finish in the conference is the only guarantee of a place in next season’s Champions Cup.

“We know it’s a big game,” Murchie said yesterday. “The table makes that obvious. We’re at home and we know that to get into third place we need to win the game.

“We know what we need to do, and if we perform we’ll get a result. It’s a big game for us and Ospreys will know it’s a big game for them. It’s going to be a full-throttle game.”

Ospreys’ one remaining match after Friday will be away to champions Leinster, who have already qualified for the PRO14 final at the end of the month, when they will meet Munster. The two games Glasgow will have left are away to the Dragons - who are also still in the hunt - then at home to Benetton.

Murchie confirmed that Gregor Brown will miss the Ospreys match as he continues to be assessed for the head knock he sustained in Saturday’s win over Zebre. Brown’s fellow-lock Richie Gray is also likely to be absent after being concussed against Leinster a week earlier.

Meanwhile, Glasgow will travel to France to face Montpellier next month in the last 16 of the Challenge Cup. Montpellier are currently 11th in the French Top 14, but their squad has an abundance of talent such as South African World Cup winner Handre Pollard and France prop Mohamed Haouas, and Warriors head coach Danny Wilson expects the one-off tie to be tough.

“Montpellier have a strong, star-studded squad and it will be a really exciting challenge away from home,” he said. “Having only played one game in the Champions Cup this season we look forward to the opportunity of playing another European fixture and all that it brings.”

The winners of the match at the GGL Stadium will have a home quarter-final against Benetton or Agen.

CHALLENGE CUP DRAW Last 16: Dragons v Northampton, Ospreys v Newcastle, London Irish v Cardiff, Harlequins v Ulster, Benetton v Agen, Zebre v Bath, Leicester v Connacht, Montpellier v Glasgow. Ties to be played on the weekend of 3 April.

Quarter-finals: Montpellier or Glasgow v Benetton or Agen, Dragons or Northampton v Harlequins or Ulster, Zebre or Bath v London Irish or Cardiff, Leicester or Connacht v Ospreys or Newcastle. Ties to be played on the weekend of 10 April.