THERE is plenty on the line at Eugene Cross Park tomorrow with Ebbw Vale needing a second win to pull away from the bottom and Cross Keys wanting to avoid being dragged into a basement battle.

In Premier League football terms 10th-placed Keys would be Sunderland, a side who have improved their squad after a close scrape with relegation and are ambitiously looking upwards.

Meanwhile, 13th-placed Ebbw Vale would be Portsmouth, a club with a lower budget than many, who ended their long search for a win recently but who have seen their squad change beyond recognition and are waiting for their new arrivals to settle in.

Yet for all Keys’ hopes of pressing into the top eight and securing a play-off berth, forwards coach Greg Woods knows they must improve on performances to date and avoid being dragged into a battle at the bottom.

He said: “One defeat and we are right back in the mix at the bottom and one win and we are looking up.

“We are keeping an eye on Glamorgan Wanderers and Carmarthen Quins because we want to get into the play-offs – being safe from relegation is not good enough for us.

“But we know that we can’t get ahead of ourselves. It is a massive few weeks for us and getting wins is all important.

“We are confident but there is no chance of us underestimating Ebbw Vale. They will be right up for this, they have huge support and “After beating Pontypool and Newport we want to make it three derby wins from three. You need heart, passion and desire to do that, and I think we also have a bit more than that in our squad now.”

Vale have had a poor start to the campaign, with a solitary win over Llanelli, but thankfully have seen an end to a run of seven straight games against last season’s top seven.

With the Keys game followed by clashes with Bedwas, Llandovery and Carmarthen Quins it promises to be a key period for the Steelmen.

“There can be no excuses – we have got to get the points from these games,” said forwards coach Christian Loader.

“We targeted this period after a tough start and this is where we will be judged.

“We are still depleted in terms of numbers with plenty of injuries but we have trained well and we are not going to moan about it.

“Everybody has spells where they pick up injuries and we just have to deal with it. We have still got plenty of quality in our squad and we have the chance to make a statement.”

Vale are still without a host of first team players, and had four in on permit in last weekend’s crushing loss at Aberavon, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

The front row has been a real area of concern but tight head props Marc Jones and Alex Murphy are inching closer to a return.

Regardless of who makes up the 22 tomorrow, it is the league points and not bragging rights that is the sole motivation for Ebbw.

Loader said: “You don’t know what way a derby will go, it could be an open game with plenty of tries or it could be 6-5.

“We know that Cross Keys will be fired up for this and with (backs coach) Mark Ring there they will want to attack from anywhere. But we also know that they will bring a big pack and we have to meet that challenge head on.”

Last night’s east versus west under-20s trial game means that Ebbw Vale will be without back row pair James Thomas and Rhys Jenkins while Keys are denied the services of flanker Toby Faletau and centre/wing Matthew Pewtner.

Both clubs will wait until Saturday before finalising their teams.