Neil Back insists his Leeds Carnegie side are in a positive frame of mind ahead of their latest ¿must-win¿ against Harlequins.
Head coach says a win against Quins on Sunday is "non-negotiable"
Neil Back insists his Leeds Carnegie side are in a positive frame of mind ahead of their latest Aviva Premiership 'must-win' against Harlequins on Sunday.
The league's bottom club were thrashed 51-18 by Wasps last weekend but their cause was helped on Friday night when relegation rivals Newcastle lost at home to Leicester.
A victory, draw or losing bonus point in Leeds' final home fixture at Headingley would be enough to lift them off the basement and above the Falcons.
However, with their last fixture coming at Heineken Cup semi-finalists Northampton on May 7, Back has once more underlined the significance of gaining a positive result this weekend.
"We said before the recent Exeter and Newcastle games that they were non-negotiable games for us in terms of our need to win, and Sunday certainly falls in that category," the head coach said.
Disappointment
"As a team, we put the disappointment of last week's defeat against Wasps behind us at the start of the week, and we go into Sunday's game in a very positive mind frame.
"In our sport, sometimes results like that can happen. You only need to look at Gloucester's dramatic 41-41 draw with Leicester last weekend to see another example of that.
"Bryan Redpath (Gloucester head coach) had rested a number of players, mindful of their game in midweek against Northampton, and probably thought he would be happy as long as the team performed well against the league leaders.
"However, they defied all the odds to produce one of the games of the season.
"Results like that - and our one at Wasps when we went into the game as the form team of the two - just go to reinforce that you can not take anything for granted."
With Leeds battling to stay up, Quins will be motivated by the prospect of a place in next season's Heineken Cup.
Back added: "Last week we came up against a side that had pace and flair to punish any mistake we made, and in Quins this week we have an opponent who is better at that than any other side in the Premiership.
"We will have to make sure we control and respect possession when we have it, and work hard for one another in defence."
