Mike Tindall has told his Gloucester team-mates they must get used to – and thrive on – the type of pressure they will experience over the next two weekends.

The Kingsholm captain, who was recalled to the full England squad yesterday, will lead his team into Sunday's key Heineken Cup pool battle with Cardiff Blues knowing defeat is simply not an option.

With two matches to play in Pool Six, Gloucester – who lost 37-24 at the Millennium Stadium three months ago – trail the Welsh region by four points.

But Cardiff end their pool campaign at home to Italian whipping boys Calvisano, while Gloucester travel to Parc des Sports Aguilera to face the 2006 runners-up and two-times semi-finalists Biarritz.

"Although it was probably good TV for the neutrals, it was very frustrating for us to lose the way we did at the Millennium Stadium in October," said Tindall.

"So we need to make sure we remember the emotions we had when we came off that pitch and use them this weekend.

"It's important for us to respect Cardiff, but at the same time we have got to do ourselves justice – and if we do that, we will come off with a win. We're in an ideal situation where we're not relying on other results.

"We know that if we get two wins and eight points, we should go through. If we can get nine or 10 points then we will probably top the group. It is all on us, and while that brings pressure, that is something the boys have got to get used to."

Tindall left the field with a dead leg as Gloucester lost 10-7 at Newcastle in the Guinness Premiership four days ago and is yet to resume full training.

But he says he would be "very disappointed if I had to miss a game with a dead leg" and is expected to train today.

And the World Cup winner cannot wait to make amends for his side's defeat at Cardiff, a match in which the Blues scored four tries to claim what could turn out to be a crucial bonus point.

"I've been looking forward to this game since we lost at the Millennium Stadium," he said.

"In an ideal world, we will go out there, score four tries and not give them a bonus point.

"When we lost in Cardiff, we didn't make them work hard for every point they got – and that is what we try to do. If we are beaten, we want to come off knowing we made the opposition work for it – and we didn't that day.

"That was the most disappointing part of it but we have got a great opportunity on Sunday to go out there and rectify that and appease our own minds.

"If we don't win this game, we're not going through. You've got to take it for a given that Cardiff will beat Calvisano in their last game, so we need to come away with a win here and a win next week.

"If we can do that, we will probably go through, even if it is as a best runner-up. But we have to win the next two games, it's as simple as that."

And with Gloucester still very much in the hunt for all three competitions they entered at the start of the season – the others being the Premiership and the EDF Energy Cup – Tindall is desperate to start turning near-misses into silverware.

"This is a massive season for us – we've got to come out of it having won something," he said. "We've been so close for the last two seasons and it is really important for me that I help Gloucester succeed at the end of the year."