St George Illawarra skipper Ben Hornby has warned his teammates not to expect the return of experienced centre Mark Gasnier to be the magic cure for their alarming NRL form slump.

Gasnier, who has missed the Dragons' past two losses with a hip flexor injury, returns to the line-up with try-scoring winger Brett Morris, who missed last week's loss to Melbourne to be at the birth of his first child.

But Hornby said the double boost was not an instant fix for a dismal run of two wins from 11 and that coach Wayne Bennett would be asking the full 17 to lift this Sunday against an in-form Warriors outfit.

"Obviously they're great players and obviously score a lot of tries so to have them back is obviously going to be a big help. But as a team we'll have to improve our performance if we're going to win," Hornby told reporters on Thursday.

"We can't rely on a couple of players.

"We're feeling good, we're obviously not happy with the performances we've had but we've put that behind us and we're looking forward this week and we're looking forward to putting in a good performance."

Gasnier's return at right centre gives the Dragons an attacking weapon to use, and the team some balance, while allowing them to direct plays away from their lethal left-edge of Morris and Matt Cooper.

"We've probably been a little bit one-sided (in attack) the last couple of weeks, so having Gaz back will be a great help for us there," Hornby added.

And while a win on Sunday, and favourable results from other matches this weekend, could have the seventh-ranked Dragons back into fourth place, Hornby said the team was more focused on finding some much-needed form ahead of the finals in two weeks.

A top-four finish would give the Dragons a confidence boost, as no team has ever won the competition from the bottom half of the top eight.

It would also get them a home final.

"It is (an incentive to finish in the top four), but it's more about your performance at this time of the year than where you finish," he said.

"You've got to beat the good sides no matter whether you finish eighth or fourth, so it's more about getting some good performances and taking some confidence into the finals.

"It's always important to go into the finals winning some games."

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