Cup final opponents Leeds Carnegie arrive at Billesley Common this weekend to find Moseley refusing to luxuriate in their successful litigation or fret about their perilous league position.

Ian Smith’s men have had quite a few days of late, a run that started with last Saturday’s loss at Doncaster which plunged them into the National One relegation zone for the first time this season.

Then on Tuesday night they bounced back with committee-room triumph that means they will not now be asked to play five games in 15 days after the Rugby Football Union upheld their appeal against an FDR Ltd attempt to force them to do just that.

That means some sort of order has been restored to Moseley’s attempts to escape the trapdoor and they are now free to concentrate on replicating the upset victory over Exeter Chiefs when they were last on home soil.

Yet Smith says while this week’s ruling has given his team an opportunity to save themselves, it has brought no guarantees.

“We have got a far more balanced season now. While we would have had to get on with what was being suggested it would have been very difficult to manage,” the head coach said.

“What we have got now is a bit more breathing space, our fate has always been in our hands but it’s even more so now.

“But there’s still a lot of work to do. The decision won’t mean anything unless we go out there and get the points we need.”

Points have been pretty hard to come by of late. Even with the incredible thrashing of Exeter on the credit side of their balance sheet Moseley have averaged one win a month in 2009, a ratio that needs to improve if they are to dodge the drop.

Smith is not unduly concerned by his team’s exposed standing. “The current league position is always going to be a false one because of the games in hand we have got. That is why we do not pay any attention to it,” he said.

“We have to take a common sense view and see where we are on the final day. We have been here before, in fact we have been in much worse positions.

“That stands us in good stead and we know we have got to hold our nerve and carry on with what we are doing.”

If they could carry on in the vein that has seen them win both of their last two home games, they could not only breathe life into the promotion race and their own hopes of staying up, they could also strike a first blow in what is a dress rehearsal for the EDF Trophy final on April 18.

“The cup final is going to be a fantastic occasion,” Smith continued. “We have to enjoy the build up and the media interest and take the fear of playing at such a big venue and in front of such a big crowd and turn it into a positive.

“Things like that don’t come along very often but it has nothing to do with what’s happening on Saturday. The outcome of this game is going to have a psychological affect on the final but the final won’t affect this match.

“There is no doubt Leeds are potentially a Premiership team, they are way ahead of us in their development.

“What we have to do is get components of our game right and put them under pressure. If we can do that it will be about how they react.

“Exeter reacted in the wrong way but it’s no use us talking about what Leeds will do, we have to put them under that pressure first.”

To do that Mose will need more intensity than they mustered at Castle Park six days ago.

Once more they will be without James Rodwell who is still in Adelaide while his England Sevens colleagues Tom Biggs and Rob Vickerman will be in the Leeds squad this weekend.

With Rodwell on the other side of the planet Mose are likely to play Neil Mason at No.8 with Adam Whitney and Richie Bignell in the back row.