Newcastle's last trophy came in 2004 when they defeated Sale Sharks 37-33 at Twickenham in the Powergen Cup.

Since then, all of the current Premiership clubs have won a trophy - with the exception of the north east outfit.

The Falcons sit bottom of the league with two wins from their 11 games, but Diamond has targeted a strong showing in the Premiership Rugby Cup all season.

And with Newcastle not losing as many of their players to international duty as many other clubs, they sense an opportunity.

"Our captain, Callum Chick, produced a really good presentation ahead of the group stages called '21'," revealed Diamond, twice a winner in this competition with Sale in 2020 and Worcester Warriors two years later.

"It was about 21 years since we had won anything and he showed pictures of that day at Twickenham. Micky Ward, our defence coach, was playing for us.

"It really hit home with the players."