Alasdair Strokosch says the time has come for Gloucester to show exactly how good they are by beating Cardiff Blues.

The Kingsholm club need a victory over the Welsh region at Kingsholm tomorrow to keep alive their hopes of progressing from Pool Six to the quarter-finals.

Scottish flanker Strokosch does not believe Gloucester have produced their best form so far this season, despite sitting second in the Guinness Premiership and having reached the EDF Energy Cup semi-final.

And the 25-year-old believes tomorrow's penultimate pool game – which Gloucester must win to set up a meaningful finale at Biarritz five days later – is the ideal opportunity to show the rugby world just how far they have come.

"I don't know if it's set up nicely this weekend, but it's set up like this because we made such a mess of it when we were in Cardiff," said Strokosch.

"It's pretty much a knockout game for us and you have been able to feel the buzz in training all week. We have to win and we have to win well if we want to progress, it's as simple as that.

"We're a very good team and we haven't proved how good we are yet this season – but this weekend we have to. It's a do or die situation for us."

Gloucester were beaten 37-24 on their trip to Cardiff in October, conceding four tries and what could turn out to be a crucial bonus point after making a raft of unforced errors.

And according to Strokosch, there is a very simple way Gloucester can give themselves a much better chance of triumphing this time around.

"I think what we learned from that game is if we don't make the mistakes then they are probably not going to score all that many points against us," said Strokosch.

"They scored one good try where they worked hard for it, but everything else we pretty much handed to them on a plate. But we've got to look at ourselves, we can't focus too much on them.

"We've analysed them and we've seen what they can do and what we think they might do, but we've got to focus on ourselves – defensively first of all, then when that is tied down, hopefully we can play a bit and score some points.

"You can't chase a game from the start. We know we've probably got to score a lot of points, but those will come if we stick to what we plan on doing."

But Strokosch knows it will not be easy. The Blues may lie second from bottom in the Magners League, but their Heineken Cup form has been excellent, winning all four of their pool matches so far.

"They seem to be building something really good in Wales with their regions," said Strokosch.

"It's good that they are not fully run by the union – I don't think that's the way to go. Cardiff have got some good Welsh players and they have supplemented them with good foreigners, and over the last few years they have built something really good.

"But I think we have built something better here – and now we have to prove it."

Victory tomorrow will ensure Gloucester head to the Basque country next week still in with a realistic chance of reaching the last eight – but Strokosch has not even thought about that game yet.

"Biarritz isn't even on the radar – there is only one focus for us and that's winning well against Cardiff," he said.

Gloucester: O Morgan/W Walker; I Balshaw, M Tindall (capt)/A Allen, O Barkley, M Watkins/J Simpson-Daniel; R Lamb, G Cooper; A Dickinson, O Azam, C Nieto, M Bortolami, A Brown, A Strokosch, A Satala, L Narraway. Reps: A Titterrell, N Wood, W James, A Eustace, D Lewis, W Walker/J Adams, J Simpson-Daniel/M Foster.

Cardiff Blues: L Halfpenny; G Thomas, T Shanklin, J Roberts, T James; N Robinson, J Spice; G Jenkins, G Williams, G Powell, D Jones, S Morgan, M Molitika, M Williams (capt), A Powell. Reps: T Filise, T R Thomas, B Davies, X Rush, D Allinson, C Sweeney, J Robinson.