Moses down but not out of ideas to help Eels keep dream alive

He's in a world of pain and preparing for surgery to repair a fractured eye socket but Mitch Moses' thoughts won't be far from his Eels teammates as they head into a do-or-die clash with an equally desperate Roosters outfit.

The Parramatta playmaker suffered the injury in the early minutes of last week's 54-10 drubbing at the hands of the Broncos, bravely staying on the field until half-time to try and keep his team in the contest.

Precariously placed in 10th spot with three games to play, the Eels would love to have their main man on deck, but coach Brad Arthur is adamant the 28-year-old still has a huge role to play if last year's grand finalists are to scrape into the top eight.

"We're really proud of Mitch for the way he carried himself, he played out the first half for us when he probably shouldn’t have and he's already got in his head 'righto boys, we need make sure we get there to the semis and I'll be back in week one'," Arthur said on Wednesday.

"That's only four weeks away but that's his mentality which is great.

"From week to week he takes control of the spine and once we give him the plan he owns that, so he'll continue to do that for us.

"He's in a fair bit of pain this week but once he can get around a bit after the operation he'll be back in and help out.

"The medical advice is 5-6 weeks but Mitch is pretty tough and if it’s safe enough for him... but we've got plenty of work to do between now and then and this weekend is the priority for us.

"We certainly haven't given up, we're still going to fight hard."

Having conceded 214 points at an average of 35 per game across the past six weeks, it's clear the Eels need to put the steel back in their defence if they are to contain the likes of Joey Manu and James Tedesco on Friday night.

The return of Reagan Campbell-Gillard from a four-week suspension will certainly help tighten up the middle and Arthur will welcome back his forward leader with open arms.

"We get Reg [Campbell-Gillard] and Maika [Sivo] back so that's a good boost of confidence and when the boys are sitting in the dressing room and they look around to see who is lacing up the boots, that helps," Arthur said.

"Reg hasn't played a lot of footy this year and he's a big part of what we do. He provides that momentum and go-forward and takes a bit of the load off Junior [Paulo], so having those guys back will really help.

"We know we have a lot of work to do but we are looking forward to it. We have two teams this week that are desperate to stay in the race.

"Both teams are going to go after it and that's the mentality I need our boys to have. We need to go after the game. We need to go there to win because that's how the Roosters are going to come."

Should the Eels get past the Roosters they will turn their attention to a monster Round 26 clash with the Panthers before a bye in the last round delivers two competition points that could get them across the line.

If Moses has his way, he'll be lacing up the boots come week one of the finals with the Eels riding high after knocking over the Roosters and Panthers and having a week off to freshen up weary bodies.

Should all not go to plan they will be left to rue a sluggish 1-4 start to the season and a tough run with injuries and suspension that provides an explanation more than an excuse.

"We’re disappointed and that's always different reasons or things that happen along the way that don't help," Arthur said.

"You need your best players on the field for long periods of the season, I think we've had 22 weeks of suspensions but we've got no one to blame but ourselves for those, and injuries you can't do anything about 

"Not having combinations, Mitch and Dyl [Brown] have only played together 14 times, Reg and Junior eight or 10 times, so when you are putting a lot of your cap space into those guys we need them on the field.

"But that's the same for every club. That's not an excuse, it's just the way it is."