Cornish Pirates captain wants Plymouth Albion to stay up

Cornish Pirates beat Plymouth Albion 27-19 in their first meeting this season in December

Cornish Pirates captain Chris Morgan says he does not want rivals Plymouth Albion to be relegated.

The rivals meet in what could be the last cross-Tamar derby for some time on Sunday, with Albion five points adrift at the bottom of the Championship.

Albion last beat Pirates in April 2010, a run of 10 successive defeats.

"Derby games are massive occasions and always great events to be involved in. Plymouth being relegated would not be good for us as a club," Morgan said.

Albion last beat the Penzance-based side on Cornish soil in December 2006 when they beat the Pirates 26-13 at Camborne, and last won at the Mennaye two years earlier when they returned back across the Tamar with a 26-21 win.

"For south-west rugby, Pirates against Plymouth is a massive occasion, it's a great game to be involved in," Morgan told BBC South West.

"Both sets of supporters always generate a large crowd, particularly around the Christmas-time fixture we share, it's one you always want to play in and one of those fixtures you look for in the calendar straight away."

Should Albion get a bonus-point win, they could move off the bottom of the table should Moseley lose at home to Rotherham.

Relegation to National One for Albion could be disastrous as the club looks to fight financial problems.

"I know how hard the club worked to get into the Championship and how hard it's done to stay here, especially over the last five or six years when there's been financial issues," Plymouth head coach James Shanahan said.

"It's been pretty tough, but I'm going to fight as hard as I can, as I have done from day one, to keep the club in the Championship.

"After that, it's out of my control and the board will make their decision and I'll respect that."