IF Dave Walder is feeling any nerves ahead of the biggest game in Newcastle Falcons' history, he isn't showing it.

In jovial mood as the countdown to Saturday's Heineken Cup quarter-final clash with Stade Francais in Paris begins, the Newcastle-born fly-half believes the Falcons' underdog tag could work in their favour: a case of nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Stade Francais, one of the oldest clubs in France and who played in the first French championship in 1892, have reached the quarter-finals of the competition in each of the last five seasons, making the semi-finals twice and the final once.

They are overwhelming favourites against a Newcastle side that only turned professional in the last decade and lie seventh in the Zurich Premiership.

Despite these facts, Walder seems relaxed enough.

"I think it's pretty much a fact of life," the 26-year-old said at Kingston Park yesterday.

"If you look at Stade Francais' team, look at their history in the tournament, the general history of the clubs, I think everything would be stacked against us.

"But we have shown in the past that we can adapt and are capable of beating anyone on our day if we stick to and play how we know we can. Hopefully, come Saturday we can do that."

Walder, who will play instead of Jonny Wilkinson if England's World Cup hero fails to recover from a recurrence of an old knee injury, believes it's possible to turn the negative vibes coming from some sections of the media into a positive.

"I think that is something that you can use to get you going," he said.

"You don't need any more incentive than a European quarter-final, away in Paris in front of 45,000 people, but if you do you can just go and look through any number of newspapers and see they are all against us."

For Walder and Co. Saturday represents an opportunity to write their names in North-East rugby folklore.

"We have never been this far as a club, it's only our second venture into the European Cup, so we are pleased to get this far.

"Obviously, the semi-final as a carrot is pretty massive," he said, before adding, with tongue firmly in cheek. "There are a fair few donkeys on our team so I think they will be pretty hungry to take that carrot!"

With European qualification through the Premiership this season an unlikely prospect for the Falcons, especially after their 9-5 home loss to Bath at the weekend, Walder also knows that the only real chance of guaranteeing a continental adventure next time out is to win the thing, starting by disposing of their French rivals at the Parcs des Princes.

"If we win the next three games in the tournament we qualify for next year," he said.

"You could argue now that that might be the easiest route to go down, although I'm not saying it is going to be easy if we do win on Saturday.

"That is a massive incentive for us. If you need any more incentive than the fact you have got a semi-final and a final, qualification for next year's competition is a thought as well."

To stand any chance of progressing though, Walder knows Falcons will have to be on top of their game for the full 80 minutes.

"We say it every week, it's won up front," he said.

"If we can get enough ball we have got a backline that has spent the last three or four years carving teams apart with pretty average ball. This year the ball has been much, much better and we have shown we can still do that.

"If we can get enough ball, I wouldn't say we are going to carve them apart, but we are more than a match for most teams in the backline."

Falcons' director of rugby Rob Andrew is not expected to name his team until the deadline tomorrow afternoon and he is not entertaining questions about the likelihood of Wilkinson making an appearance.

The fitness of Wales flanker Colin Charvis is also being closely monitored, although Saturday may arrive too soon for the foot-injury victim.

Falcons are also coming to terms with the broken leg suffered by promising wing Ollie Phillips in a development side game at Tynedale on Monday. He was vying for a place in Saturday's squad but now faces a lengthy lay-off.

There is better news in the front row, however, with Ian Peel, Micky Ward, James Isaacson and Galo Quinones on course to make the trip to France.

l The Falcons can bank on the backing of around 3,000 travelling supporters on Saturday.

l Alex Tait, brother of Falcons' starelt Mathew Tait, was part of the England under-18 side that lost 20-6 to their Welsh counterparts yesterday. Tim Visser, also of Barnard Castle School and Falcons, joined Tait on a mudbath of a pitch at Dunvant. England play Ireland in their final game at Pontypridd on Friday.