Jack Carty says Connacht must treat next weekend's clash with Stormers in the Dexcom Stadium as a "cup final".
Pete Wilkins side dropped outside of the BKT URC play-off places after a 47-12 loss to Munster, while rivals Ulster, Edinburgh and Benetton - as well as the Stormers - all won their round-16 games.
Connacht will face a Leinster chasing a top seed in the last round and the consensus is that two wins are now required for the Westerners to make post-season.
"Certainly so, we can’t look past Stormers," said out-half Carty.
"That comes down to it being a cup final next week for us. We need to get a win at home and send the fellas who are finishing up off [on a high].
"Then all eyes on the following week.
"If you look at what Stormers did to the Dragons, it was a similar sort of game, they punished them when they were loose.
"That’s where the focus will be for us this week. Being more accurate, set-piece, attack and D [defence], and be more clinical when we can be."
Head coach Pete Wilkins agreed that the game, the last tie at the Galway venue before redevelopment, is "must win" and says the squad, semi-finalists last season, still have belief.
"[Results elsewhere] obviously makes the Stormers a must-win game," he said.
"I am not afraid to say that.
"We have to ensure that we put ourselves back in a stronger position, and particularly with the other results, it doesn't help us.
"I have no doubt about the strength of character of the lads to respond next week, it's too big an opportunity and too big of an occasion for us as a club not to respond, but it frustrates me that we have to be looking for a response."
Connacht are back in the game just before the break. A fine pass by Jack Carty to find Byron Ralston. Try converted by Carty.
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HT: MUN 14-7 CON
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Wilkins will get injury updates on Matthew Devine and Tiernan O’Halloran later today, while Mack Hansen is an "option" but the Englishman hinted the Ireland international, who’s been out with a shoulder injury since January, won’t be rushed back.
"It's a week-to-week debate at the moment. I suppose Mack has progressed well up to the point of doing his return to contact work," he said.
"But what he has not had is the movement in the shoulder to be able to do that perfectly yet, and that would put him at risk from a safety point of view, but also it's just not technically effective.
"So, each week we are testing that and obviously he has been treated in between that to hopefully progress him.
"He could be an option for the Stormers but the way it has tracked so far, it wouldn't surprise me if he wasn't either, so I'll wait for an update on Monday when they next see him."
Munster ran in seven tries and Wilkins added it was a major cause for worry.
"It's a concern in terms of seeing a scoreline like that, it absolutely is," he added.
"You ally that to the dent to your pride and your disappointment in terms of it being such a big game for us as an interpro' in the context of the season.
"It's about looking really carefully at how you break down those points conceded.
"There will be individual errors in there. There will be system errors from the team and there will be bits where guys are just bailing water out of a sinking ship, to be blunt.
"So, I think you have to take each one of them in context but it doesn't make them any less disappointing."
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