Wests Tigers hooker Robbie Farah is having daily hyperbaric chamber sessions in a bid to overcome a corked hip before Saturday's crucial NRL clash with Cronulla.
Coach Tim Sheens rates Farah unlikely to play at Toyota Park against the Sharks, with Stuart Flanagan named in the No.9 jersey.
But Farah, the Dally M Medal favourite and the club's most dangerous player, will give himself every opportunity to help the Tigers overcome two successive losses and avoid slipping out of the top eight.
"It's a pretty important game for us and one that we have to win," said Farah.
"But in saying that if I'm not 100 per cent I don't want to be going out there and letting the boys down.
"I just have to get up to game day and see how I feel.
"At this stage it doesn't look very good because there's a fair bit of bleeding around the area.
"There's not much I can do except ice up and give it a bit of rest.
"I'm in the hyperbaric every day and I just have to see how it responds to the treatment.
"I'm not giving up hope yet."
The Tigers are on the cusp of dropping out of the finals, holding South Sydney out of the top eight only on points differential.
The Tigers' 54-10 thumping of North Queensland three weeks ago is the only difference between sitting eighth and ninth.
That game prompted media headlines about the Tigers' improving premiership credentials, but all they have done since is lose to Gold Coast and then Sydney Roosters, when Farah picked up his injury.
Farah believes poor discipline and mistakes have cost the Tigers, and says the players have not been carried away with their own hype.
"We were pretty impressive at Leichhardt and the media got a bit carried away and I guess the last couple of weeks have been disappointing," said Farah.
"We spoke about not letting it (media hype) get to us and we knew we had an important month coming up but I'm not too sure if that's a reason why we haven't played well.
"Mistakes have really costs us and our discipline in giving away a lot of stupid penalties.
"You do that against any side and you're going to get beaten."
Sheens said Cronulla pose a serious threat to the Tigers having pushed the two top teams in the NRL - Melbourne and Manly - before beating third-placed Parramatta in the past month.
While the Sharks are still a mathematical chance at reaching the finals, Sheens believes Cronulla will be playing without the pressure of being in contention.
"We're not out of it, Cronulla are. The pressure is off them to a degree," said Sheens.
"It's how we handle the pressure more so than playing under pressure.
"(Cronulla) have played very well and are very unlucky to be where they are.
"We're not expecting an easy game, simple as that.
"It's heading to the business end but if we panic it's not going to help."