We can bury our heads in the sand and make ourselves believe that everything will be alright and that there is nothing for us to worry about, or we can prepare for these two fixtures in the best possible way so that we are as prepared as we can be for what either of these teams will throw at us during the 85 minutes of play.

Preparing well will not guarantee that we will win either of these matches, but it is like sitting an exam. If you go into an exam having done little preparation, then you know that unless you are extremely lucky then you will fail. However, if you have done your revision, done your preparation, then you are far more confident of succeeding.

Of course there will always be those people who will tell us that we are not good enough to succeed whatever we do, people who will want us to fail, but their negativity should only make us more determined to come through what will be a very tense few days.

Tuesday evening games, particularly 200 miles up the M1, create there own issues in terms of preparation, especially when you have another game five days later.

We will travel to Leeds on Monday afternoon having completed our final training session that morning. On Tuesday morning, we will have a light session to break up the day, before allowing the players to relax, watch DVD's of Leeds for the nth time, or complete their mental preparation in their own way. After the game it will be back to the hotel for a pool re-gen session, before getting on the coach at approximately 9.30am on Wednesday to return to Twickenham.

On the injury front and with the exception of the long-term injuries to Maurice Fitz Gerald, Mark Lambert and Andy Dunne, we are in good shape. A couple of players are carrying 'little niggles' but everyone, bar these three, should be available for selection for the Leeds game on Tuesday evening.

People would not be human if they were not nervous when thinking about the possible outcome of our two games next week. Finishing bottom (using that word again should start another debate) of the Zurich Premiership would be a massive setback for the club, but as I stated last week Leeds Tykes, Worcester Warriors, London Irish and Northampton Saints will all be having exactly the same thoughts. Some of them only have one game left before they know their fate; at least we have two.

Whatever you think the rights and wrongs of this season are, whether you agree or disagree with the team that is selected to take the field on Tuesday evening, now is not the time to voice your complaints. Now is the time to get behind the team in whatever way you can, be it by traveling to Leeds, by watching the game at the Stoop or just by sending the team a 'good luck' message via email to me at mikes@quins.co.uk or by fax to 0870 132 6863.

It is going to be a big week for all five teams at the bottom of the Zurich Premiership, and although we would prefer not to be involved, we are and are looking forward to controlling the controllable.

I look forward to hearing you all at Headingley on Tuesday evening.