It is not entirely impossible that Zebre will end their sequence of 20 straight RaboDirect PRO12 defeats by beating European champions Leinster in Parma today, but rumour has it that the local bookmakers are offering shorter odds on Silvio Berlusconi taking a vow of celibacy this week.

In which light, the likeliest scenario for Glasgow, who clinched their PRO12 play-off place with a hugely impressive 35-17 victory over Ospreys at Scotstoun on Friday evening, is that they will have to overcome Leinster in Dublin next month if they are to keep their title hopes on track. And Dublin is just about the last place they would probably choose to go.

After all, it was on Leinster's home turf that their championship ambitions came to grief last season as Glasgow were edged out 19-15 at the semi-final stage. And it was on the same Royal Dublin Society ground that their run of seven PRO12 wins came to an end last month, when they lost 22-17 after stunning their hosts with two early tries.

The result that day, and the season as a whole, would have looked very different for Glasgow had Welsh referee Nigel Owens not ruled that Peter Horne's pass to Sean Lamont in the dying seconds of the game went forward. Lamont had a clear run to the line, and his despair was obvious when Owens' whistle sounded just as he crossed it.

His mood hasn't lightened since. "We should have won that game," said Lamont. "That pass was never forward."

Maybe not, but it was a timely and costly reminder that the little things that seem to go your own way when you are riding a tide of goodwill on home soil always seem to work against you when you take your show on the road. Glasgow have gorged themselves on the Scotstoun factor this season, but their away form has been erratic.

It is still possible that they could host their play-off at Scotstoun, but if Dublin is their destination they will go there with the knowledge that no side have won a PRO12 semi away from home in three years of trying. They will also take the recent memory of last weekend's lapse in Llanelli, when they backed up their magnificent 51-24 win over Munster with a feeble capitulation to the Scarlets and a 29-6 defeat.

But Lamont is defiant about their prospects. "We have been good away," he said. "You can't have the immaculate season. There's always one thing or another. That's all it was. We have been playing some good rugby, we had a good game against Munster, and then we got complacent and Scarlets gave us a good kick up the arse."

Lamont has always been a confident fellow, and when he talks of Glasgow's three remaining games he clearly believes they are going all the way to the final. but he is just as emphatic about the kind of game that is going to get them there.

"We know we can do it," said the 76-times capped 32-year-old. "It is just a case of eradicating our errors and keeping the head. When we are not on form, things like Scarlets happen. We know what we can do and if we can stick to our game plan we will put that pressure on.

"I thought our forwards were immense [against Ospreys]. They were smashing the opposition. That aggression, throughout the XV, is something we lacked last week. When we've got it we are champions. It's that sort of level where we need to be for the rest of the season. It's important. We've got to get everything right."