Davies has faith in Tykes

Leeds go into a crucial Heineken Cup clash against unbeaten Edinburgh tomorrow, with Tykes boss Phil Davies declaring: “Our European adventure is still alive.”

The Yorkshire club must win their final three Pool Two appointments with Edinburgh, Toulouse and Neath-Swansea Ospreys to have any chance of progressing.

The odds are stacked against Leeds, but quarter-final contenders Edinburgh and Toulouse have still to visit Headingley.

“Our European adventure is still alive,” insisted rugby director Davies.

“We’ve got two home games on the trot now, with a trip down to Neath-Swansea to finish.

“I felt we did reasonably well in both the away games against Toulouse and Edinburgh, so we will not be overawed by the occasion.

“Our first season in the Heineken Cup was always going to be a learning experience, and it has been awesome.

“There is no doubt that we have already taken the lessons learnt in the tournament on board. The mistakes we made against Toulouse last month were not there against Edinburgh last week, and we are relatively happy with the way we are playing.

“It is still mathematically possible for us to qualify for the quarter-finals, and as long as that chance exists – however slim it may be - then we will keep going.”

Davies is confident his team know what they are up against tomorrow.

“What we must do is capitalise on our territory and possession,” he specified.

“We had some good field positions against Edinburgh last week but did not manage them as well as we would have liked.

“We need to play a slightly different style in the return match – that won’t be a problem – and I think there are a few areas in their game we can exploit if we are a bit smarter tactically.”

Davies has made two changes from the side beaten 19-9 by Edinburgh eight days ago, handing starts to prop Matt Holt and flanker James Ponton who are respective replacements for Aaron Persico and Gary Powell.

“Aaron has been away with Italy this week, so it has not been ideal preparation for him – while James was in great form for us during the World Cup period and he will add to our options in the back row,” added Davies.

Sale Sharks will be without young forward prospects Andy Titterrell and Andrew Sheridan for their Pool Three game against Leinster at Edgeley Park.

Titterrell is serving a six-week suspension after being cited for stamping when Sharks defeated Leinster 23-22 in Dublin last week, while Sheridan has a shoulder injury. Coach Jim Mallinder has called up Matt Cairns and Kevin Yates to the front row.

Leinster, currently two points above the Sharks, must try to fill a huge void left by midfield talisman Brian O’Driscoll who is absent because of hamstring trouble.

Stade Francais have lost key men Agustin Pichot, David Auradou and Benoit August through injury – and prop Pablo Lemoine is suspended for tomorrow’s Paris return against Pool One rivals Gwent Dragons.

The Dragons won a bruising encounter 20-12 in Newport seven days ago, and Stade coach Nick Mallett will demand that his team start living up to their status as French champions.

“I am not happy at all with the way our European campaign has gone so far,” he said.

“We missed an opportunity at Ulster and we showed a lack of discipline at the Dragons.

“The Dragons are a very competent side, with two international locks and a very good number eight. Behind the scrum, they have three good South African players – but I think this pool could go down to the wire because each team has won its home games so far.

“As I said at the outset, it was always going to be tough to reach the quarter-finals because we have had to integrate 14 players since the end of the World Cup.

“Leicester are in the same position, and you can see that the teams who have had the fewest players in the World Cup are going to do well this season.”

Elsewhere tomorrow, Bourgoin host Treviso in Pool Five; Parker Pen Challenge Cup second-round, second-leg action sees Newcastle – minus Jonny Wilkinson - take a seven-point advantage to Montferrand, and Connacht visit Pau with a 29-7 first-leg lead.