Tito lifting last year's Anglo-Welsh title at Twickenham

Blues captain Paul Tito says Cardiff old boy Nicky Robinson can expect a "warm" welcome when Gloucester arrive on Sunday for the LV= Cup semi-final.

Robinson left the Blues last season for Kingsholm and has helped spark the Cherry and Whites into some good form.

"We do look forward to inviting Nicky back to Cardiff and hopefully we will see him in the odd ruck or two!" said New Zealander second row Tito.

"He is a class player and we knew that when he was here."

Tito added: "He has got a great left foot and he puts the team in good field position.

"So, nothing has really changed. He has gone there [to Gloucester] and done exactly the same thing."

The Blues are the defending champions after demolishing Gloucester 50-12 in last year's final at Twickenham.

But they go into the last four clash with just 11 forwards, including only two fit props, and 11 backs to choose from because of injury and internationals calls.

Gary Powell is out for up to eight months with a torn Achilles and they have also lost Gareth Williams (knee) and Deiniol Jones (rib).

Away with the Wales squad are Bradley Davies, Richie Rees, Tom James, Leigh Halfpenny, Jamie Roberts and Tom Shanklin.

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"I don't think Dai [coach David Young] has got too much to pick from this week," admitted Tito.

"But that's what the LV Cup is all about, developing younger players, and hopefully we will see a few of them on Sunday."

The Blues are not helped that Gloucester have been in strong form during the second half of the season

"I think they have changed since Christmas. They had a pretty tough time [before that]. But since then they have kicked on and had some awesome wins and they are flying high at the moment.

"So they will be full of confidence and thinking that they can come to Cardiff and knock us over. So we have got to be on our game and fronting up so that doesn't happen."

The Blues are boosted by an impressive home record against English clubs recently - they have won 10 of the last 11 matches against Guinness Premiership outfits.

"It is not a bad record but it does not count for anything on Sunday. It's all about the present. I'm sure it will be a good game," Tito added.

The Blues are conscious that their recent indifferent form has not been conducive for the region attracting big crowds to the Cardiff City Stadium.

"With so much rugby on at the moment it is tough to draw a crowd," admitted Tito.

"People like to support winning teams. And last year when we were on a bit of a high -that was why we managed to pull all those big crowds when we went to the Millennium [Stadium].

"This year we haven't really managed to do that, which is quite disappointing from a team point of view.

"So hopefully we can go on a bit of a winning spree and get a couple of [big] crowds before the end of the year.

"We have put a bit of pressure on ourselves and obviously it's not ideal but hopefully we can dig ourselves out of it and really push on."

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