CARDIFF Blues coach Dai Young has backed fly-half Ceri Sweeney to cope with the pressure cooker atmosphere of Rodney Parade when he returns to face his old region.

The 30-year-old has been something of a revelation for the Blues in recent weeks, getting the backs moving and bringing the best out of in-form centres Casey Laulala and Jamie Roberts.

Sweeney endured a frustrating start to the campaign when he had to watch from the sidelines as Australian import Sam Norton-Knight wore the number 10 jersey.

But the Blues admitted defeat on that particular experiment and returned to 35-times capped Sweeney.

It has paid off in recent weeks with a European Challenge Cup drubbing of Newcastle and comprehensive away Magners League wins over Ulster and the Scarlets, the latter of which sealed both the Blues’ and the Dragons’ places in next season’s Heineken Cup.

But Sweeney, who spent four seasons with the Dragons, will have to remain calm on Friday when the flak comes his way from the Parade terraces – something Mike Phillips famously failed to achieve when the Ospreys suffered a shock defeat.

“Ceri is an experienced player and knows that the crowd is going to get after him if he makes a mistake,” said Blues chief Young.

“He has been around long enough to handle that and has enough quality around him to get over any stick.

“Ceri has come in and shown great strength of character. We wanted to give Sam every chance we could but Ceri has come in and run the team very well.

“His defence has never been an issue because we know that he is a strong tackler and I feel his organisational game has always been strong. Where people have previously criticised him has been his kicking game and that has improved.

“He is really playing well for us and has really stood out. He has led the team very well and has done as much as we could have asked of him.”

The Blues are definitely without loosehead Gethin Jenkins and wing Tom James for the short trip east while influential centre Casey Laulala, flanker Martyn Williams and hooker Gareth Williams are rated as highly doubtful after suffering knocks in recent weeks.

However, Wales number eight Andy Powell will return to the 22 ahead of next weekend’s European Challenge Cup semi-final with Wasps.

“We will have a strong side because we want to go down there and win,” said Young.

“This is still an important game for us and we are still in with a shout of the play-offs, albeit our fate is not in our own hands.”