No time for slip ups

Moffat's men currently lie in third place in the standings but that could all change this weekend as all 10 Magners League teams are in action.

And with the top six sides all confident of securing a semi-final spot, Moffat knows that just a single defeat could spell the end of Edinburgh's title hopes.

"Our mindset is that every game is winnable," said Moffat, who has seen his side record eight victories in 14 Magners League fixtures so far this term.

"We don't look at saying 'we've got to win this game or that game'.

"We want to win every game but at this stage of the season, we can't afford any slip ups. We can't afford to sit back at all.

"Like every team, we'll look back at games this season and think we should have won or we didn't play well there but now we've just got to look forward."

Looking forward starts with Friday's night trip to The Sportsground to face Connacht.

It's a game that Edinburgh will be favourites to win but it's also one which presents some massive challenges.

Connacht come into the match in good form having run leaders Leinster incredibly close last weekend, with only a last-gasp drop goal from Jonathan Sexton denying them a deserved share of the spoils in Dublin.

Throw in a draw with high-flying Glasgow, a two-point defeat at the Ospreys and a comfortable win over the Dragons and Connacht are clearly playing far better rugby than their 10th place position in the league suggests.

"This game on Friday night is tough. Connacht are bottom of the league but they belie that," added Moffat as he prepares his side to travel to a venue where Connacht haven't lost in any competition since September.

"They won all their games in the Amlin Challenge Cup so they're in the quarter-finals of that next week.

"They almost beat Leinster at the weekend and they beat both Munster and Leinster last season at Galway so we know how tough a game it is.

"We just have to get our serious hats on here and perform well."

Edinburgh arrive in Galway following victory over the Scarlets at Murrayfield last Friday, but while the result was a positive one, the performance didn't match Moffat's expectations for the full 80 minutes.

The Scottish capital outfit looked comfortable going into the closing stages but they failed to pick up a try-scoring bonus-point and instead let the Scarlets back into a game that should already have been in the bag.

Moffat is after an improvement in the West of Ireland but he knows Connacht will do everything they can to make that as difficult as possible.

"Last week against the Scarlets was sloppy, that's the word I keep using.

"I thought in bits we looked really sharp but then there were little errors and mistakes and we gave two soft tries away. We can't afford to do that.

"We need to try and get on top of a team like Connacht and try and dominate the game on Friday night, but it will not be easy."