CORNISH Pirates joint head coach, Gavin Cattle, has warned his side they can ill-afford to take anything from granted when they travel to lowly Cambridge in the Championship tomorrow (2pm).

Having secured successive victories against London Scottish, Caldy and, most recently, Nottingham, the Duchy’s finest will head to Ellgia Fields in fine fettle.

However, Cattle knows that although their hosts sit bottom of the pile and without a win this season, respect for the opposition remains non-negotiable when it comes to game day.

“For us it’s simply a must-win game,” said the Welshman. “The the pressure is on if we are serious about competing in the play-offs.

“We were really pleased with our win last weekend at home to Nottingham because that was crucial for us to stay in touch with the top six. I thought at the end of a tight contest, we showed our character to achieve what I felt was a deserved win over the 80 minutes.

“As for this week, Cambridge have also shown character. They drew with Doncaster Knights recently and have been unlucky to be pipped in certain other games. They are also well-coached by former ‘Pirate’ Will Britton – and they’ve become more cohesive, have a good line-out, and the stats show they are very physical.”

Having moved up to seventh in the standings, the Pirates make three changes in their starting line-up from that of a week ago. In the backs, Ben Cambriani slots back in on one of the wing berths, whilst in the forwards Alfie Petch is named at tight-head prop and a now fully-fit Matt Cannon is selected to partner Josh King in the second row.

Cornish Pirates: Angus Mawson; Arthur Relton, Chester Ribbons, Harry Yates, Ben Cambriani; Louie Sinclair, Dan Hiscocks; James French, Sol Moody, Alfie Petch; Matt Cannon, Josh King; Alex Everett (capt), Luke Ratcliff, Tomi Agbongbon. Replacements: Morgan Nelson, Ollie Andrews, Ben Woodmansey, Milo Hallam, Rory Suttor, Will Rigelsford, Arwel Robson, Matty Ward.