SHARKS centre Lee Thomas believes they will have to strive for the perfect game if they are to stand any chance of beating Stade Francais on Sunday.

Defeat would almost certainly represent a death knell for the club's Heineken Cup hopes, having already lost once in the group stages, so they can ill afford any slip-ups.

But Thomas, Sale's hero in the weekend win over Llanelli after a flawless kicking display, believes the team are still capable of winning in the Parc des Princes despite the injuries that have plagued them in recent weeks.

He told SAM Sport: "They don't come any bigger than this. Stade Francais at the Parc des Princes in front of almost 50,000 people, it's going to be a massive game for us.

"The Heineken Cup is about as close as you'll get to Test rugby while playing for your club. There are world class players in most teams in this competition so it's always difficult.

"I do think we'll have to be close to the perfect game if we are to win on Sunday. If we do make the kind of simple mistakes with our handling skills that we did against Llanelli we definitely won't win.

"Any mistakes we make will be pounced on by Stade Francais and we will be punished for them so we have to be right on top of our game."

While Sale's injury crisis has certainly hampered their campaign - they were denied the services of 18 players for Saturday's game against Llanelli - it has also given several fringe players the chance to shine.

The 22-year-old Thomas is one of those who has grabbed his opportunity with both hands, marking himself out as a future long-term option at inside centre for Sharks with promising performances in the past two games.

And the Welshman sees no reason why Sale's setbacks should alter their ambitions.

He said: "Our back line has really functioned as we would like in recent weeks and that is probably down to the injuries.

"The partnerships have been changing because players are missing and obviously it takes a little bit of time to get used to playing with different players.

"But the team's ambitions are still there, although we have to be realistic about the situation.

"We are through to the semi-final of the EDF Cup so we have a massive chance to pick up some silverware in that competition.

"But it's a long way off, so now we have to concentrate on the Heineken Cup and focus on getting out of this group.

"It was important that we got a win on Saturday so we'll go into Sunday's game with two wins behind us and that will give us confidence."