“Hopefully he will come through – and I am sure everyone else will be hoping that as well – and the medical people at the club will be honest about his situation as Dale himself will be.
“Neath have done extremely well throughout this season to have suffered only one defeat and, while they have got great strength in depth, it gives us confidence that we were the only team to beat in the Premiership.
“We also acquitted ourselves well down at The Gnoll so, while we are underdogs, we will be giving it our best shot.
“Both teams enjoy playing expansive rugby and I sure all 44 players will be excited at the thought of playing this final at the Millennium Stadium and it will show the potential within the Premiership.”
Neath coach Rowland Phillips added: “We have got a strong squad, but I don’t think there is as much between us and rest of the pack as people might think.
“Our goal was to improve on last year’s results and, in getting away wins at clubs like Newport, Carmarthen Quins and Llandovery – and in getting past the quarter-final stage of the Konica Minolta Cup – we have already improved on last season.
“The fact that Pontypridd and us have played each other twice with a win each shows the type of close game we can expect on Saturday.
“We are a tight squad and we wont be worrying about any favourites tags and just get on with doing what we do best.”
* Tickets will be available from booths around the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. Adult tickets are £10 and those for U16 are £5.
