Cardiff Blues begin their defence of the LV= Cup amid a critical volley from director of rugby David Young.

Young is disappointed by the scheduling of the competition during the international window, meaning his Blues have lost 10 players to Wales duty for Sunday's trip to Gloucester.

"We always get excited about playing English opposition, but it's probably not the same tournament as we won last year," he said. "It's a little bit disappointing from my point of view that they are being played without the major international players and so on. Certainly the way I see it, the English teams are going to be affected far less than the Welsh teams."

Gloucester sit third from bottom in the Premiership but Young fears his Blues will face a side still smarting from last season's clean sweep of defeats.

"Gloucester will want to put the record straight after we beat them three times in the Heineken Cup and Anglo Welsh Cup," he added.

"They are probably still carrying a lot of pain from our fixtures last year and will be determined to put the record straight."