It was hailed as one of the greatest upsets in Heineken Cup history but, for Alastair Kellock, Glasgow's shock victory in Toulouse last season remains very much a case of what might have been.

The Warriors were expected to be little more than cannon fodder for the three-time European champions, who had won their opening four Pool Five matches, while the visitors had lost all four of theirs.

So it came as no surprise when Glasgow's 33-26 victory at the Stade Municipal in January sent shockwaves through the tournament.

But while captain Kellock was delighted with his side's "fantastic performance", he was left to reflect on why it had taken so long to materialise.

"It was a great win but it didn't actually mean anything at the time because we weren't pushing for qualification," said the Scotland lock.

"The players we had suggested we could produce a performance like that.

"We've got four or five players who can change a game and you need that at the top level.

"We took Toulouse by surprise with the rugby we played; we went over there and passed it a lot.

"It was a good match, there were few scuffles in it, there was no lack of passion.

"We were playing as if it were a qualifying match - we needed to."

Glasgow followed that remarkable result up with another win in their final pool game.

But it was too little, too late for Sean Lineen's men as their long wait for that elusive first quarter-final continued.

Yet there was something about the manner of the Warriors' win - they led 33-9 going into the final 10 minutes - that suggested they could be on the verge of producing something special.

"The Toulouse match has proven to many of the less experienced guys that we could compete at that level," Kellock said.

That belief was reinforced at the start of this season when both Glasgow and Edinburgh won their opening two Magners League games.

The Warriors' bubble was burst somewhat by back-to-back defeats but Kellock maintains a squad reinforced by the arrival of scrum-half Chris Cusiter and the emergence of prop Jon Welsh is the strongest of his three years at the club.

"We've taken steps forward, showing more consistency," the 28-year-old said.

"We definitely have a stronger squad than anything I've worked with."

Whether it is good enough to progress from a Pool Two containing Gloucester, Biarritz and - once again - Newport-Gwent Dragons remains to be seen.

"Hopefully we'll know after the first two games if it's strong enough to reach the quarter-finals," Kellock said.

"We have Biarritz first up and they will be tough but two years ago we put in a good performance against them.

"We know the Dragons well - we've played against them a lot.

"We want to go into those back-to-back Gloucester games having got a good few points out of the first couple so that we can push on."

Head coach Lineen will be under pressure to deliver in his fourth Heineken Cup campaign at the helm, especially with the Toulouse result now firmly ensconced in European rugby folklore.

But, like Kellock, New Zealand-born former Scotland centre Lineen is certain his current squad are up to the task.

"The Scottish teams are doing well in the Magners League at the moment and we don't want to be bit-part players in the Heineken Cup," he said.

"The expectations are a lot higher this season as our squad is stronger than ever.

"We've got more depth than we've had before. We've also got some x-factor players, classy players who can win games for us.

"There's also more belief now.

"In the past, we've maybe talked our game up a little bit. Now there's nothing that scares us.

"It's about getting out there and doing it."