This is South Wales --THE OSPREYS have put themselves firmly in the hunt for a Pro12 play-off spot, but forwards coach Chris Gibbes insists the region haven't yet given up on Europe.
Friday night's hard-earned 17-12 derby win over the Scarlets — the Ospreys' third victory of the festive season — has consolidated their position in third place in the table, just four points adrift of leaders Munster.
On the face of it, league matters will now become the priority for Steve Tandy's side.
But as the four-times Celtic champions turn their attention to the final two rounds of the Heineken Cup, there is a belief in the Liberty camp that they can still salvage something from a disappointing continental campaign.
Ahead of Sunday's clash with in-form Northampton Saints, the Ospreys sit eight points behind Pool 1 leaders Leinster.
And for them to make any sort of progress in Europe — probably in the second-tier Amlin Challenge Cup — they require victories over the Saints and over Leinster in Dublin, with a bonus point thrown in.
"We will never say never; a couple of results could potentially go our way and then you never know," said Gibbes.
"We are chucking our hat into the ring. We are excited to be at home again and our fans deserve a big performance from us, they came out in their numbers against the Scarlets, which was awesome."
The Ospreys will need to raise the bar against a Saints side who sit in second in the Aviva Premiership and have won 11 of their last 12 matches in all competitions — including a remarkable victory over Leinster in Dublin last month, just a week after they had been put to the sword by the Pro12 champions at Franklin's Gardens.
The Ospreys dominated the opening 40 minutes against the Scarlets to lead 14-3, but found themselves on the back foot for long periods in the second half, where they struggled in the scrum again.
"I would be lying if I would say to you I was happy with where the scrum is at," added Gibbes. "Again, there were a couple of things we didn't get right. Scrummaging comes down to some core fundamentals, and I have been guilty of not nailing a couple of things. But credit where credit's due; the Scarlets scrum is very good and they showed, as they did last week, they are a force to be reckoned with in that area."
Gibbes added: "In my short time here, you never ever question or expect anything less than the best effort from the Ospreys boys. We have just got to ensure from a performance point of view we get better at what we are doing.
"We knew if we could get three wins in the games against the Blues and the Scarlets we would come out of it in pretty good nick and we have done that."
The Ospreys are hopeful that back-rower Ryan Jones will recover from the hamstring injury that forced him to miss the Liberty win, while Justin Tipuric is expected to return.
Tipuric was a late withdrawal from the starting XV against the Scarlets as his girlfriend was going into labour. Reported by This is 13 hours ago.