"I will never be confident going into any match,'' Eloff said. "The Highlanders have their backs against the wall and will be dangerous.
"They want to win badly and will come out blazing. It's not going to be easy for us.''
The Lions had a good start to the Super 14 season when they beat the Cheetahs 23-22 in the first game. But they had a lean spell after that and lost their next four games, then drew 24-all with the Reds in their last game.
The Lions had a try disallowed and were unlucky to lose their third game against the Force.
"That broke our momentum,'' Eloff said. "When we played the Sharks we crossed the line twice but failed to ground the ball.''
The Lions have one of the youngest and least experienced sides in the Super 14 and has lacked the ability to finish.
The loss of Springboks Andre Pretorious and centre Jaque Fourie through injuries was an early setback which had affected the fluency of the backline.
"The guys panic when they get the ball,'' Eloff said.
They were afraid of making mistakes "and don't attack the advantage line and close down rather than opening the game up''.
The Lions coach has been forced to improvise at first five-eighth and Jaco van Schalkwyk will be playing only his second game in the position. This is Eloff's first visit to Carisbrook, but he is acutely aware of the ground's reputation as the "House of Pain'' for visiting teams.
"It is a fantastic honour for us to play at a ground that I have heard so much about,'' he said.
South African teams used to perform badly when playing in Australia or New Zealand. But this has changed over recent years, with the Lions winning two of their four overseas games last winter.
"People make travelling a mental block,'' Eloff said.
"I get our players to focus on the game rather than on the time difference. My philosophy is not to focus on the negatives of travelling.
"I see it as a positive because playing in another country gives players the chance to meet new cultures and see what's going on in the world.''
