A fifth victory in a row over Cardiff at the Dexcom Stadium tonight (8pm) would see Challenge Cup top seeds Connacht into the quarter-finals.
Easier said than done, however, as the westerners are still searching to hit the right notes without head coach Pete Wilkins, who remains on sick leave.
Cardiff have Matt Sherratt back at the helm after his sojourn with Wales during the Six Nations and the Blues will target a revenge victory over their Celtic rivals, who they have already lost to twice this season.
The visitors will have noted how Connacht have started slowly in games and only got going when the result was almost beyond them - that was the case in the back to back URC defeats against Ospreys and Munster in the last fortnight.
"This is the start of an enormous opportunity in achieving our goals at this club which is to win silverware," insisted the province's stand-in coach Cullie Tucker. "Our results in the pool stage have set us up nicely for the knockouts, but that'll mean nothing if we don’t go out and take advantage of it.
"Both meetings with Cardiff this season have been tight, physical affairs, and they’ll be boosted by some returning internationals too. So the onus is on us to deliver a massive performance for all 80 plus minutes, backed up by a vocal home support behind the lads”.
Connacht have made five changes and are boosted by the return of Shayne Bolton on the wing, while there’s a new half-back pairing of Matthew Devine and JJ Hanrahan and Mack Hansen is at full-back.
Oisín Dowling comes into the second row and Josh Murphy starts in place of skipper Cian Prendergast, who was injured last weekend.
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.
