ANDY MORRISON insists Connah’s Quay Nomads are thriving on the pressure of giving the Welsh top-flight the title race they’ve been “crying out for”.

With seven weeks of the regular season remaining table-topping Nomads are two points ahead of The New Saints, who for the first time in a number of years, face a serious challenge to their dominance of the division.

Scott Ruscoe’s Saints, who have a game in-hand, make their way to the Deeside Stadium tomorrow (5.15pm) knowing they can’t afford to lose if they want to record an eighth successive league title.

And Morrison, who hasn’t ruled out third placed Barry, six points off top having played a game less than Nomads, is pleased to be challenging the status quo.

“There are six league games left and for us to be top is something the league has been crying out for, for years,” said Morrison.

“TNS have not had that question asked of them, they’ve always been six, seven, eight, nine or 10 points clear, sometimes more.

“They are usually thinking two more wins at this stage of the season and they’ve won the league, but this is a different scenario altogether.

“All you can keep doing is keep asking the questions and see if they come up with the answers – and that’s what we will be doing.

“We are in a good position, Barry are in a good position and TNS are in a good position, so what will be will be.”

Morrison suggested in the aftermath of last weekend’s Welsh Cup quarter-final success at Caernarfon, that the pressure is on Nomads heading into the home clash with TNS.

He explained: “It’s because of the pressure we are under as a football club.

“We are under pressure to push TNS, we are under pressure to win every game of football, the players are under pressure because of the pressure I put on them.

“This is a pressure cooker football team and that’s how we look and how we play.

“A lot of teams will wait until the last 10 minutes of the game to start throwing balls forward and they might stick their centre-half up, like Caernarfon did, and then there is this energy and this kind of caveman mentality to try and get something out of the game.

“Connah’s Quay start like that. When the referee blows the whistle, that’s how Connah’s Quay play.

“We don’t wait until the 80th minute when we’ve tried everything and then, as a last resort, stick a big man up front and try to win the game any way we can.

“We start with that desperation in every game we play and long may it continue.”

Asked whether TNS would settle for a draw which would leave them with a slight advantage in the title race, Morrison declared: “They will want to win. They are TNS, they will want to win. Of course they will. That’s been in their DNA.”

One man who knows about Saints’ DNA is Nomads’ first team coach Craig Harrison, who led the Park Hall outfit to six of their seven successive titles.

Has Morrison tapped into Harrison’s knowledge of the Saints’ players?

“No. There is not a thing we don’t know. We play each other that many times,” explained the focused Morrison.

“It’s one of the downsides of having a small league. When the players get off the coach you know what order they will get off in, which way they will turn. You know everything about everybody in the league.”

The game might come too soon for Ryan Wignall and Declan Poole who have returned to training after long lay-offs, but Jake Phillips (cup-tied), John Disney and Andy Owens are in contention to start.