Ryan said: "We've got to start with a clean sheet on Sunday, get it rolling early on and get the points."
Ryan and director of rugby Nigel Melville have experienced final pool weekend qualification before including against Treviso last season and away in Munster the year before, but Ryan was quick to see the positives for Sunday.
"It's a different mind-set required. We've been the victims of being on the other side, in terms of saying that we can't afford to lose by x amount of points.
"On Sunday there's no hang-up for us. We've just got to go out and play positive rugby. When we do that it tends to suit what we're trying to do as a team."
Gloucester go into Sunday's game knowing that they need to win with a try bonus point, prevent Stade Francais from getting any pool points, and score at least two tries and nine points more (or three tries more) than the French side on the day to qualify as pool winners.
"Hopefully we can find the rhythm early on and put some pressure on. If we can get a lead and put the pressure on, it'll build on Stade Francais. We've had our own experience of that, and it's very difficult to suddenly say lets start playing rugby later on in a game when you know you've got to stop the opposition scoring a certain number of points.
"If the rhythm is there early on and the crowd get behind us, we can build on it. We'll then see a pretty lively second half.
"We can't afford to force the first half too much. We'll probe a few areas where we think we have an advantage. If we haven't got to where we want to be then people will see a change in tempo."
Ryan knows to expect a strong Stade side who will be just as powerful away as they are at home in Paris.
"The travelling didn't seem to bother Biarritz last week. That's something that the Heineken Cup has started to change. You saw that last Sunday in the Leicester game. We don't expect any less from Stade than what we saw in Paris back in October."
Stade used the set-piece to their advantage against Gloucester in the French capital back in October, and the Gloucester coach is well aware of their strengths.
"In that game their driving line-out was good, and Pich (Agustin Pichot) was the threat we know he can be. We've got to work hard on that area. We defended some of their five metre set-pieces well, but we gave them too many chances at it. If you give a team like that five or six goes at it, they'll get it.
"Stade Francais are the French champions, they're in good form, they're full of great players, but we're playing at Kingsholm, the crowd will be behind us and we know what we have to do."
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