CROSS Keys aim to break their Gwent derby duck against fellow strugglers Bargoed tomorrow (kick-off 2.30pm) to give their Principality Premiership survival hopes a boost.

Both sides are in the relegation dogfight with Keys currently in the last safe position but with Bridgend, Llanelli and Bedwas only a win away from them.

The Bulls are in a more perilous predicament with only doomed Neath below them in the table and an 11-point gap to this weekend's hosts.

The men from Pandy Park are buoyed by last week's bonus point win against the basement side at the Gnoll but have a woeful record against Gwent foes this season.

Keys lost at Bargoed Park 20-13 in September, at Ebbw Vale and at home to Bedwas in October and to Newport at Pandy Park in the last game of 2018.

"In Gwent derbies it's about playing sensible rugby in the right areas, but we haven't won one yet," said team manager Mark Prangell.

"That's unusual because we have always put a lot of importance on these derby games and we have to put things right this weekend.

"It's going to be tight at the bottom this season and we need to win when we are at home. It'll take an 80-minute performance to do that."

Keys recovered from a sluggish start at the Gnoll to turn a 10-0 deficit into a hard-fought 34-17 triumph with tries from Joe Thomas, Owain Leonard, Jacob Botica and Leon Andrews.

Prangell said: "The first 20 minutes at Neath last week could have cost us and in the past we have sometimes gone from bad to worse in those situations.

"This time the boys sorted it out themselves and it was a good bonus-point win in a difficult situation."

Botica will once again pull the strings for Keys from fly-half after fly-half Jason Tovey went the other way to the Dragons after securing a deal until the end of the season.

The summer signing from RGC was picked by Ebbw Vale in last summer's draft of regional players for Gwent clubs but the Steelmen have agreed to him instead getting his game time at Pandy Park.

Leonard is out with an ankle injury and will be replaced by Dragons academy scrum-half Dafydd Buckland.

Ex-Dragons back row forward Ieuan Jones will come into the XV to face his former Bulls teammates. Last season he scored a try at Pandy Park in an away win.

Bargoed took the spoils on home soil when they entertained Keys in September thanks to tries by Barney Nightingale and Louis Blacker plus 10 points from the boot of Josh Prosser.

They are currently on a nine-game losing streak in the league, the latest defeat a 39-17 reverse at Carmarthen Quins, and face a crunch fortnight with a trip to Swansea next weekend.