Cornish Pirates head coach Ian Davies described his side's Championship trip to Newcastle Falcons as a 'win-win' scenario despite an ever-lengthening injury list.
Tomorrow's re-arranged fixture at Kingston Park against the unbeaten league leaders would be daunting enough with a full-strength side but Davies admits he is likely to make a number of changes to the side that lost at home to London Scottish last weekend.
Davies expects to travel without skipper Gavin Cattle (hip problem), prop Alan Paver (bicep) and his fellow forward Laurie McGlone (head).
However, the medical reports on numerous others is just as bad with back-row Ben Maidment expected to be out for a month with hamstring problem, while back Matt Evans (tendonitis) is also facing a spell back on the sidelines.
Despite setbacks for so many of his squad, Davies is determined to remain positive.
"Let's make no bones about it," he said. "Falcons are unbeaten in all competitions this year for a reason – it is because they are a very good squad.
"The disappointment that we had against London Scottish last week means our task is not any easier because we know we need to get something out of the game.
"But at the same time, we are in a win-win situation. If we go up there and lose heavily, it is probably what most people think is going to happen.
"We are pretty determined to go there and do what we need to do."
Davies admitted to a sense of inevitability surrounding his side's 20-17 defeat the Exiles last weekend.
He said: "They are a good side and we didn't play well. We haven't played well for a good few weeks now, probably since the Bristol game but we've got through and been able to sneak wins.
"We came unstuck last Sunday and, to me, it was an indication of the strength of the Championship – Scottish were bringing guys off the bench of the quality of Mark Irish – and they are a side ninth in the league."
The chase for fourth place and the last play-off spot is now out of Pirates' control. Davies has told his squad to concentrate on winning games before assessing where they might be able to finish in later weeks.
"We said to the squad after the game against London Scottish to forget about it [finishing fourth] because it is now out of our hands," he said.
"We had an ideal opportunity to cement fourth after Leeds' defeat and we blew it.
"That is probably just an indication of where we are, to be honest. We are not a top-four squad and we proved that by slipping up against Scottish at home and away.
"If we want to be in the top four now, we have to go relatively unbeaten through to the end after the Newcastle game.
"We are good enough to be in the top four on our day but the depth of the squad sometimes means we don't have enough of those days.
"If we have a couple of good results, the pressure will go back on Leeds and Bristol but at the moment we are behind those guys in terms of being favourites for that fourth spot."
