Jones lifted the Cup back in April

Ospreys captain Ryan Jones says they will have to hit the ground running if they are to successfully defend the EDF Energy Cup.

Harlequins are the visitors to the Liberty Stadium on Sunday for the opening Pool C match.

And Jones said: "We have to be looking at repeating what we achieved last year and we'll certainly be giving our all to make sure the Cup stays here.

"But to achieve that, it's important that we hit the ground running."

Ospreys clinched the trophy in April after beating Leicester 23-6 in a gripping final at Twickenham.

They open their defence against the Harlequins who they beat 19-8 in the pool stages last season.

Quins failed to make it any further in the competition.

"If you lose your first game then it can be very difficult to progress so we realise that we have to get off to a flying start," said Jones.

"We have no intention of just handing over the Cup to another team.

"We've talked about making the Liberty Stadium a fortress and we want teams to fear coming here to play us.

"If we're going to manage that, then we need to be beating teams like Harlequins."