Connacht hope to channel the spirit of Leicester City to defeat Glasgow Warriors and make it to the Guinness Pro 12 final this weekend.

The unfashionable Irish province welcomes the reigning-champion Warriors to the Galway Sportsground on Saturday in their first ever shot at title play-offs.

While Munster, Leinster and Ulster have all captured the title in previous years, Connacht have traditionally been the underachievers of the Emerald Isle.

Now they intend to cause a stir in the same way Claudio Ranieri's footballers did in the English Premier League.

Captain John Muldoon - a veteran of 12 years with the Galwegian side - also said that emulating the Warriors was a big motivating factor.

Muldoon said: "We take a lot of parallels from sport and none more so than Glasgow Warriors over the last couple of years.

"I think everyone looks at different sports to try and get a little advantage and I think a story like Leicester City this season inspires us as well.

"I firmly believe that Glasgow have been the form side for the past two to three seasons and it was great to see them finally win it last year.

"The number of international players and star names that Glasgow have has been huge and I think it has really propelled the international team as well.

"It has been phenomenal and we hope to do something similar."

Head coach Pat Lam shares Muldoon's admiration for the work done by Gregor Townsend at Scotstoun.

He believes it will be two of the Pro 12's most exciting teams going head-to-head on Saturday evening for a place in the Murrayfield final.

Lam said: "There is no doubt that when I look at what Gregor has done and the way he has grown such a strong culture out there that I think we have done the same.

"It is two exciting teams and they have led the way and shown that it is possible.

"We have a team with no stars and not many internationals.

"But we do have a group of men who work hard for themselves and I am very blessed to work with these guys."