ITALIAN side Calvisano could well feel the full backlash of Sale Sharks' defeat against Ospreys when they arrive at Edgeley Park on Friday.

Sale missed out on a glorious chance to give themselves the best possible start in the Heineken Cup when they allowed Ospreys to come from behind to snatch a 17-16win at the death last Friday night.

Director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre had targeted wins for all home games in the competition and at least two away wins to guarantee qualification for the next round, so there is now little room for manoeuvre for the English champions.

All group winners qualify for the next round along with the two second-placed clubs from all six pools with the next highest number of points, so clubs in the same groups as the weaker Italian sides are generally expected to be in with a chance.

At least Sale picked up a losing bonus point which could well prove vital at the end of the group stages, and will be looking to add a further five points to that tally with a try-scoring bonus against Calvisano.

Performance

Failure to notch up four tries will be seen as a setback.

Saint-Andre added: "We will need a big performance against Calvisano and I hope that all our fans turn out in large numbers to support the team.

"Calvisano will be our first home game in four weeks and I am sure our fans are ready for some Edgeley Park action.

"We were in control against Ospreys and we needed to punish them, but we didn't. We made mistakes.

"We were six points in front then they went through 12 or 13 phases and scored. We were in control of the game, but we were not clinical enough and did not score enough points.''

The good news for Sale Sharks is that Mark Cueto's injury is not as serious as first thought. He has had a scan and is aiming to bounce right back.

He said: "The ankle eased over the weekend and I am happy with the scan results. There is fluid around the joint, which is to be expected but the physio team are looking after me and I am aiming to be fit for the weekend."

Tickets for the game against Calvisano are available online at www.salesharks.com or by phoning the ticket hotline 08712-220120.

WALES could be without Brent Cockbain for the autumn internationals after he was cited for stamping on Sale's Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe on Friday. If found guilty he could miss all the autumn Tests.