Camborne does not meet Premiership standards (Pic: Simon Bryant)

Cornish Pirates chief executive Rod Coward says the club's Camborne ground would be unlikely to meet Premiership rules should they win promotion.

The club must have a ground capable of holding 10,000 people in order to meet top flight rules.

"Because of a tightening of the criteria, it seems unlikely that our facilities would be acceptable to the Premiership," Coward said.

But he says he the club should meet the criteria in the future.

"We remain wholly confident that we will be part of Elite Rugby, either with appropriate facilities or working towards attaining acceptable facilities," he added.

"We are determined to bring the highest possible level of rugby to Cornwall and hope that ambition will not be denied because of the lack of a suitable stadium.

"If we do finish top and we are denied entry to the Premiership then we would have to accept that and we would look to use the income generated by winning the league to ensure we would be better placed to accept promotion in the future."