The Irishmen are struggling at the bottom of the table with six points, but Glasgow are only seven points better off following a poor run of defeats. Indeed, the Scots' only win in their last ten matches in all competitions was against Munster at Hughenden in September, since when they have recorded five straight losses.
Aware that his team must come out on top in this weekend's basement clash, Hugh issued a message of confidence to his fringe players by insisting they are capable of sparking a change in fortunes. "On paper, the preparations have been far from ideal for us," Hugh said in today's edition of The Scotsman. "We lost in frustrating fashion to Leinster in the Heineken Cup last weekend and then most of our leading lights departed for Scotland training duties.
"Connacht, on the other hand, will be inspired by their European Challenge Cup victory over Montpellier in France and the fact that they haven't lost a single player to the Ireland Test squad. They are a much stronger team than their lowly league position suggests. That was underlined last month when only a dodgy late refereeing decision prevented them from beating champions Ospreys in Wales.
"Having said that, we are also a much better outfit than our recent results have indicated. The bulk of our defeats have been narrow in matches that could have swung in either direction."
In the absence of playmaker Dan Parks, Hugh has handed the captain's armband to scrum-half Graeme Beveridge. Explaining his decision, the coach added: "Bevvy was a pretty obvious choice in the circumstances. He is a wise old pro with plenty of experience and is someone the rest of the squad respect and look up to."