LAST week Luke Burt was a shock omission from the Parramatta team to play Manly after being named in his usual spot at fullback. This week he could be a shock inclusion for the game against North Queensland at Parramatta Stadium tomorrow night after not being named in the side.

When he was dropped last week, Burt was not required to play for Parramatta's feeder team, Wentworthville, in the NSW Cup and had the weekend off. This week he has not been named for Wentworthville, despite not being included in the first-grade side. The Herald has learnt that Burt is back in the frame for a start against the Cowboys, and that coach Michael Hagan will decide today or on the morning of the game whether to use him.

Burt was dropped against Manly because his form had been down but it is understood he also had a private matter that required his attention. He had a few days off training but has been back this week, and Hagan now has to make a call on whether he thinks Burt can regain his usual form. If he does play, it is natural to presume Burt will return to fullback, with last week's custodian - Jarryd Hayne - moving to the wing or centre, but that is not certain.

Parramatta have been in very poor form recently, with three straight losses - to Penrith, South Sydney and Manly - and have dropped to 13th place. The only saving grace for them is that the crowded middle section of the competition table means they are still only three points outside the top eight.

They desperately need to boost their confidence by beating an injury-ravaged North Queensland team that has set the standard for poor performance this season with 11 straight losses, and Eels second-rower Nathan Hindmarsh is adamant that a narrow win - even though it will bring two points - won't be sufficient.

"We need to get out there and win by a good margin," Hindmarsh said yesterday. "It won't be enough to scrape home by a point or two against a side that is as depleted as the Cowboys are. That wouldn't remove the question marks. We need to play a strong game all round and win well."

Hindmarsh said the mood of the players was reasonable, considering the hammering their confidence had taken from the series of disappointing results.

"The mood isn't too bad," he said. "It could be better, but things are how you would expect them to be if you're running 13th. Everyone is still excited about playing on Friday night, but it's just a bit low-key. All you can do in our situation is keep working hard, and that's what we've done.

"We need to make something good happen for ourselves, and if something bad happens, you can't drop the head and start kicking stones. You've got to move on from it and try harder."

Halfback Brett Finch said the Eels had to try harder to enjoy their football in an attempt to break the losing cycle.

"We haven't enjoyed our footy in the last couple of weeks because we haven't been winning and the pressure has been mounting," he said. "But one good win could do us the world of good, so we've just got to go out there with the aim of enjoying our footy on Friday night.

"We can't be worried about whether we've got to win five out of our last seven games to make the finals, or some other team has got to lose so many games for us to get past them, or whatever. We've just got to worry about what's in front of us - and right now that's the Cowboys."