Edinburgh Monarchs are due at high-flying Somerset Rebels on Wednesday (7.30pm) and bosses claim it is win or bust if they are to have any chance of winning silverware this season.
The Armadale-based combine missed out in a 49-41 defeat at Sheffield Tigers on Sunday despite an 18-point maximum by No 1 Sam Masters.
And the squad are running out of matches as they bid to claw their way up the table from ninth position and into the top four.
Edinburgh have 13 points from 12 fixtures while Somerset have 30 from 15 matches.
Redcar Bears currently occupy the fourth and final qualifying position with 26 points from 13 outings.
In-form Masters (pictured), who also rides for Wolverhampton Wolves in the SGB Premiership, has been unbeaten in 20 out of 21 for Masters since his return to Monarchs.
And the Aussie admitted: ”There’s not much more I can do, but we all tried (at Sheffield).
“I was watching everyone and we were all trying our hardest.
”The track was really hard work it wasn’t super fun but I got 18 so I can’t complain. It would have been a lot better if we could have least got a point of it.”
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