These last three games are massive for us – Hastings

The fly-half was tasked with pulling the strings at Allianz Park and had a hand in Ali Price’s early try, but he made no attempt to mask the disappointment within the squad following the full-time whistle.

“Before the game, we thought we were in with a good chance against them,” said Hastings.

“We’d run them close at Scotstoun, then we went toe to toe with them for an hour or so at Allianz in the final group match, so we were feeling confident about having a go at them.

“Ultimately, though, whilst we started brilliantly, they got away from us. The whole squad is massively frustrated and disappointed.”

However, whilst the defeat means that Glasgow’s European campaign comes to an end for another season, Hastings believes that the result can still benefit his team going into the final three rounds of the Guinness Pro14 regular season.

“Results like that aren’t easy to dust yourself off from, but you’ve got to take it on the chin and move on,” said Hastings.

“We’ve reviewed it as a group and it was tough to watch, but you’ve got to learn from performances like that. Quite often, it’s defeat that you take your biggest learnings from.

“We’ve taken it on board and banked that feeling, because we don’t want to feel like that again.”

The Warriors have an immediate chance to banish some of the memories from Saturday’s tie when they return to Guinness Pro14 action at Scotstoun on Friday night, with Ulster arriving in Glasgow for the first time in three years. The leadership group within Rennie’s squad was highlighted by Hastings as an important weapon in Glasgow’s armoury, as they look to continue their pursuit of a home semi-final.

“It’s times like these when your leaders emerge and step up, and we’ve got many of them in this squad,” said Hastings.

“You listen to them as a younger player and take on board what they say. The biggest thing that we’ve spoken about this week is the need for us not to panic – it’s a different match in a different competition, we just need to control what we need to control.

“These last three matches are massive for us. If we’re serious about finishing top of our conference and then going on to win the competition, we need to win these matches. That starts this week, back in front of our home fans. They’re a fantastic group that really get behind you.

“The atmosphere is always top quality and we’re really looking forward to it.”