Steve Hanley provides the inside track on all things Sharks in his weekly web column.

We're preparing ourselves for another tough battle this week.

It's slightly different this time round, there's not much left to learn about Stade Francais, we know what to expect.

The only thing is, knowing what to expect and actually stopping them are two completely different things.

We watched the video of our last game and it was disappointing really. We made far too many simple mistakes and we have to cut them out if we are to stand a chance on Sunday.

They will come here without Christophe Dominici, which is a big loss for them, but they have talent throughout the squad so we can't afford to ease off in the slightest.

The Heineken Cup in general is proving to be very open this year so anything can happen.

Who would have had Llanelli down as the front runners in their group and who would have said Toulouse would lose twice in their first three games?

Munster are probably the front runners and they look immense at the moment. If they win this week they'll break Leicester's record for consecutive Heineken Cup wins.

I do think Leicester still have a chance despite their defeat to Munster and then there's the likes of Ulster, who are extremely hard to beat at Ravenhill.

Then of course there's Biarritz who are going strong at the minute. Imagine we qualified and got drawn against them in San Sebastian again, that would be unbelievable.

But while all these sides are quality outfits, so are we.

It's time now for us to stop talking about the players we're missing, it's happened and we can't do anything about it.

We have a decent side and we need to make the most of it. Thinking about what might have been is no good, we need to make things happen.

We've got a pretty crowded schedule over Christmas so everybody will have to work extremely hard to make sure we get through it with a few wins under our belts - and that means laying off the Christmas booze for now!

We'll have to wait until after the Gloucester game for our team Christmas do but it's definitely a sacrifice worth making.

It's been a difficult couple of weeks personally because I've struggled to get into the matchday 22 of late.

The problem is that they will very rarely carry a winger on the bench because they have other lads like Chris Mayor or Chris Bell who can cover the position at a push.

So often, the third or fourth choice winger will struggle for gametime even though, in reality, they aren't that far away from getting into the team.

It can be difficult being out of the side for long spells but you just have to prepare each week as if you are going to play because you need to be ready when you are called upon.

I'm still determined to make my mark and will be working hard to ensure I get my chance.