EBBW Vale boss Nigel Davies has hailed the unity of his side that has put the Steelmen 80 minutes away from Principality Premiership glory – and stressed it will take one more herculean team effort to upset the odds at Pontypridd on Sunday.

Vale have enjoyed a remarkable turnaround in fortunes to secure a second successive grand final at Sardis Road (kick-off 3pm, live on S4C) after looking dead and buried in the autumn.

The Steelmen won 11 of 12 league fixtures to secure third spot in the table, the last a nerve-racking 32-30 success against rivals Aberavon, and then caused an upset at Llandovery in last Sunday's semi-final.

Tries by flanker Ronny Kynes and wing Jared Rosser plus eight points from the boot of fly-half Dai Langdon earned a 20-16 victory against the Swalec Cup winners to earn a crack at the standard bearers for the Premiership.

"It's been a really big effort in the second half of the season to put ourselves in this position and I am very proud of the players," said Davies, who took over from Jason Strange in the hotseat last summer.

"We were up and down and not really going anywhere until we had a bit of a mid-season review.

"From there we have moved forward as a group, turned things around and it's been a real success story whatever happens on Sunday.

"This group defines itself by its teamwork and team ethic; they have such a belief in each other. That will be key at Pontypridd because it's going to take a huge effort."

Ebbw head to Sardis buoyed by a pair of regular season successes against the champions, winning 26-18 away in October and then inflicting a 34-8 drubbing at Eugene Cross Park in March.

Despite those victories Davies is keen to play the underdog as his charges attempt to avenge last year's 28-14 loss at 'the House of Pain'.

"It's going to be a big ask at Ponty," he said. "They have been there and done it over the last few years and they have a lot of belief.

"Our wins in the league have probably given them even more motivation, if they needed it, and they are used to winning finals.

"We know what to expect from Pontypridd and they are a hugely accomplished side who will be very committed in front of their own fans.

"Our set piece needs to be good, we will have to work hard without the ball and we will have to make our first-up tackles, which we did against a very good Llandovery side.

"We all know what we have to do as a team and every player that will go onto the park knows what they must do individually."

The Steelmen are waiting to hear if back row forward Harri Keddie and wing Rosser are to be released from Wales' training camp ahead of next month's World Rugby U20 Championship.