It chills my spine - Kingsley Jones

Sale Director of Rugby Kingsley Jones has issued a desperate plea to his charges to avoid a last-day survival scenario at Harlequins.

The 2005/06 champions last week slumped to the foot of the table thanks to a barron run that has seen them fail to win a game since January 1.

And with the daunting prospect of relegation to the English Championship now a very real possibility, Jones has revealed his fear that the Sharks might end up having to go to the Stoop on May 8 with their safety in the top flight still on the line.

"It chills my spine to be thinking we would have to go to Quins with our Premiership status still not secure," he said, speaking to the Manchester Evening News.

"The thought of listening for news of games elsewhere while we fight for our lives doesn't bear thinking about. That whole scenario would be a nightmare.

"But we've still got seven games to go and I think if we got three wins from those matches and still got relegated then we'd be unlucky. But we're certainly aiming for far more than three wins.

Joining Sale in the continuing relegation scrap of 2009/10 are Worcester, Leeds Carnegie, Newcastle and at a push will be Harlequins and Gloucester, who are currently nine points ahead of the basement outfit from the north-west.

And with some of these teams scheduled to meet in the run-in, Jones has highlighted the importance of those fixtures when they come around.

"A lot of those games are effectively eight-point games which is significant. A lot of the other teams around us play each other," the Welshman said.

"We're not sitting here targeting any games as such. Our focus is totally on Wasps a week on Friday as I think that will shape the rest of our season.

"But the games that stand out for us, are the fixtures against Worcester and Newcastle at home.

"Though we've slipped up at home a few times, ultimately we always try to target our home games as a priority and we've got to get back to making it tough to come to Edgeley Park and we want to start doing that against Wasps.

"We've got to raise the standard we set in the second-half against Northampton and if we do that it should be good enough to beat a lot of sides.

"All the players are really positive and they are still totally dedicated and believe we will get us out of this situation.

"They also know there is quality coming back before the end of the season with Mark Cueto and Mathew Tait coming back from England duty.

"After Wasps we've got a run of four games where I believe we can win them all. We have to have that belief but we have to have a fear of failure too."