Most players carry a certain sense of trepidation when they travel to the Sportsground, Connacht's distinctive Galway home, but Troy Nathan will go there tonight with the enthusiasm and fond memories nurtured during the four happy seasons he spent on the books of the west of Ireland club.

The 28-year-old New Zealander might wear the colours of Glasgow Warriors these days, having crossed the Irish Sea last summer, but his affection for the team he left behind is still obvious. So, too, is the fondness of the Connacht fans for him, with internet message boards and Twitter feeds wishing him well on his return to the club he represented almost 80 times.

Up to a point, at least. To complement the hostile atmosphere of the place, the Connacht supporters are a famously raucous bunch, generating levels of noise and intimidation out of all proportion to their relatively modest numbers. And into that febrile mix can be added the fact that Glasgow have not won there in almost five years, their best result at the Sportsground being the 19-19 draw they snatched with an injury-time try by James Eddie in March 2010.

A portent perhaps? Then, as now, the Warriors were pushing hard for a place in the play-offs of what was then the Magners League. Since rebranded as the RaboDirect PRO12, Sean Lineen's side are again handily placed to take one of those precious top-four slots, although the coach has already warned his side that Galway is exactly the kind of place where title efforts can all too easily come off the rails.

Nathan has been echoing that message this week as well. "Connacht obviously love playing at home," said the player who will form a midfield partnership with the Warriors captain Graeme Morrison tonight.

"They have full confidence in their attack. They try to get the crowd involved in the game because they're quite vocal there and they get behind the ref so you get that snowball effect with the referee. It's important that we try to stop them early and don't let them get the roll on.

"We have to play in the right areas of the park. We've got a gameplan in place and we've trained well all week, so we've just got to get over there on Saturday night and execute it properly and hopefully come away with a win."

Nathan has made 12 appearances for Glasgow since his move to Scotland last year, his worth beoming clear during the World Cup period when the Warriors were shorn of their international players. With Six Nations players now unavailable, Lineen has again had to look to his back-up men and ask them to show the same redoubtable spirit they demonstrated earlier in the season.

Connacht, by contrast, get off lightly at this time of year, a scenario which Nathan says they try to put to their advantage.

"They know that the average team they face will have at least five players out so it's a big part of the season for them," he said "They try to target home games especially. In the past they've done it and have crept up the table. It is their mindset that you get the wins when the Six Nations is on."

Connacht's pattern of recent results makes bewildering reading. Between the RaboDirect competition and their first Heineken Cup campaign they managed to put together a streak of 14 games without a win, but ended that run in the most dramatic way possible with a 9-8 Heineken Cup victory over Harlequins last month.

For Nathan, that result should ring alarm bells for Glasgow. "At this point in time no one is underestimating them."

Nathan particularly rates the aggression of lock Mike McCarthy, flanker John Muldoon and No.8 George Naoupu, all of whom have been included in the Conancht starting line-up for tonight's game. Naoupu, in particular, is one player who can do a lot of damage if Connacht get on the front foot.

"You have to stop him early because he has a good offloading game," said Nathan of the former Highlanders forward who is now in his second spell at Connacht after spending a year playing in Japan.