NEWPORT legend and new club president Brian Jones will look to rouse the troops with a pre-match rallying cry ahead of tomorrow’s home clash against old rivals Cardiff (kick-off 2.30pm).

Black and Ambers chief Ty Morris says the visit of the Premiership leaders is all his squad has been focusing on this week despite the ongoing uncertainty over Newport’s future at Rodney Parade.

The club is in a dispute with the Dragons over matchday fees for them to play on the hallowed Newport turf after they were put up from £700 last season to £2,500.

Some feel the hike could lead to them leaving the world-famous ground that they sold to the Welsh Rugby Union in 2017.

“We haven’t been focusing on that,” said Morris, whose team sit eighth in the table, 18 points behind Steve Law’s Blue and Blacks. “As a group, it has all been about things on the field.

“We’ve kept all our focus on playing. The issues with the ground haven’t changed how we’ll look to play.

“The players want to do the fans justice and put in a really good performance at home.

“It means so much to the crowd to play this game at Rodney Parade because there’s a huge history there.

“We’ve got Brian Jones coming in to have a chat with the boys before the game about what this fixture means to us.”

He continued: “Hopefully we will still be playing there in the future. If not, we’ll just have to move on and deal with it.

“I was lucky to play there and every time you step on that field you can feel the history and what a great venue it is.

“I’m sure the players now feel the same and appreciate it as a group.”

Putting matters off the field to one side, Morris knows a lack of consistency in performance is proving to be Newport’s downfall this term.

They followed up wins over Llandovery and Bridgend by throwing away a victory against Pontypridd and then delivering a lacklustre display away to Llanelli.

“We were very poor against Llanelli, so the boys know they’ve got to improve on Saturday,” added Morris.

“Consistency has been a big focus for us in the last couple of weeks.

“We were excellent against Llandovery and Bridgend and then slipped up in Llanelli.

“We are nearly at full strength so can’t blame injuries for poor performances.”

On Cardiff, he added: “They are clear favourites to win the league this season, and rightly so.

“They’re playing very good rugby and will be tough to beat.

“We’ve analysed quite a lot of their games. They are strong in every department.

“They’ve got a lot of ex-pros who make them very strong.”

Morris has Dragons centre Connor Edwards to call on, as well as prop Dan Preece, who recently spent time in prison for perverting the course of justice after trying to escape a drink-driving conviction.

Meanwhile, one from bottom Ebbw Vale host Swansea, who sit just above them in the standings, at Eugene Cross Park tomorrow (kick-off 2.30pm) fresh from their superb win at RGC 1404.

Fixtures: Tonight – Aberavon v Carmarthen Quins; Tomorrow – Bridgend v RGC 1404, Ebbw Vale v Swansea, Llandovery v Pontypridd, Merthyr v Llanelli, Newport v Cardiff.