St George Illawarra skipper Ben Creagh says the Dragons can't afford to wait on their big guns to return as they look to halt a slide out of the top four.

The Dragons' 18-12 defeat by the Cowboys on Saturday was their fourth straight loss and leaves them teetering in the top four ahead of their derby with Cronulla at Remondis Stadium on Sunday.

With only four competition points separating fourth and 12th on the ladder, the Dragons could even risk a tumble out of the top eight if their losing run continues.

There is no shortage of excuses for the run of losses with nine regular first graders missing from the line-up that fell just short of the Cowboys on Saturday.

Coach Paul McGregor will be hoping at least half of the nine regular first graders who missed the Cowboys match will return for the clash with the Sharks but Creagh said the Dragons can't let their fortunes rest upon it.

"I'm very confident that once we get those guys back it'll be a big bonus, but we can't wait for that," Creagh said.

"I don't know how long it's going to be until we get a full team back in. The guys who played and debuted [on Saturday] did a good job and they've got to just keep getting better.

"I think things we were doing well early in the season we're not doing so well at the moment.

"We've gone away from the the tough, grinding Dragons footy we were playing. There were parts of our game where we certainly weren't at our best and the Cowboys took advantage.

"We let them roll on too easily and that's something we were stopping really well early in the season, so we've got to get back in and work on that."

While the past three losses have all come by six points or less, McGregor agreed his side must halt the losing streak or risk undoing the work they've done to charge into the top four.

"There's no panic stations but you'd like to start winning games that's for sure," McGregor said.

"The guys have worked really hard to put themselves in a good spot but when you lose consecutive games you can drop down quick.

"Confidence is a big thing week to week. When you're winning the confidence is flowing, when you're not there's a bit of doubt."