Head Coach Danny Wilson insists his Cardiff Blues are ready for the 'must win' clash with Harlequins in the European Rugby Challenge Cup at Twickenham Stoop on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 3.15pm).
Wilson’s men head to the English capital knowing only a win will be good enough if they want to keep Euro qualification hopes in their own hands.
English giants Harlequins top Pool 3 with an undefeated record and 20 points while Cardiff Blues currently occupy second spot on 11 points.
And with the race heating up to be one of the top eight qualifying teams, Wilson knows the stakes are high for the Round 5 encounter in England.
“It’s simply a must win game if we want to keep matters in our own hands,” said Wilson.
“There is the outside chance of getting through if we didn’t win, but the reality is we need to win the game and then against Calvisano to qualify.
“It would be a good achievement to qualify this season,” added Wilson. “When you looked at the group draw at the start of the season and saw Harlequins and Montpellier, full of superstars from both teams, in many ways it was a Champions Cup pool.
“We’ve hit some form and won four out of our last five games, with the one loss away to Montpellier and we all know that was extremely tight and down to the final seconds.
“We won the two derby games over Christmas and New Year, which has been a long time coming at the Blues. We targeted them to get some respect from winning and we’ve done that with two good results.
“The boys have applied themselves really well for the last five games and we’ve built a little bit of momentum in terms of performance and we have got some results.
“We have said all along that we need to get the nuts and bolts of our performances right to give us a chance to win games of rugby.
“What also needs to be credited to these players is the character they have shown to comeback from being down.
“Think of the start of the Scarlets game, which is perhaps indicative of some of the performances we have had recently.
“Consistency is the key word - we need to improve that. We have shown what we are capable of doing, but we have also shown that we are capable of lapses. The positive is we are bouncing back from them, but there is that negative that we still need to eradicate it.”