Parramatta captain Nathan Cayless says the Eels cannot rely on mathematics and must win all of their remaining three games if they are to be any hope of reaching the NRL finals.

The Eels head into Saturday's crucial clash with the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium having revived their playoff hopes with two straight wins to be sitting just one win outside the top eight.

Two wins could be enough to get them to the finals but Cayless predicts only wins over the Dogs, Dragons and Warriors over the closing three weeks of the regular season will be good enough.

"I think that's probably realistic. We have to win all our games if we want to make the eight," Cayless said.

"You can't get too far ahead of yourselves and if we don't win this Saturday our season's over, it's all finished.

"There's still a long way to go and at the moment we're coming 12th so we've got a lot of work to do."

A finals appearance would cap a significant turnaround for the Eels, who were considered down and out earlier this season after being one of the leading premiership contenders last year.

But Cayless said being written off had not provided any added motivation, as he expected a backlash from fans and the media because of the high profile of the club.

"There's obviously a lot of expectation on us as a club," Cayless said.

"Parramatta, they have a lot of supporters and seem to get a lot of criticism in the media at the moment.

"No matter if we're winning or losing people sort of want to criticise us but that's all well and good.

"... Our fans expect a lot of us and they tend to be pretty harsh on us at times.

"But we expect a lot of ourselves as well and we're disappointed with our season but at the moment we're still in there with a chance.

"There's a bit of excitement building now and we've got a little momentum over the last couple of weeks but we've got to keep that going."

Parramatta still have injury concerns over lock Feleti Mateo (knee) and winger Joel Reddy (hamstring) but both are likely to be given until Saturday to prove their fitness.

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, have named eighteen-year-old Jamal Idris to make his debut in the centres.

The Belmore club is on a five-match losing streak and are firming favourites for the wooden spoon but Cayless said the Eels knew from experience how quickly that could turn around.

"We saw it ourselves, we were very low with our confidence and we were playing poorly but it only takes one week to turn it around," Cayless said.

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