SKIPPER Chay Billen, pictured, may be forced to miss Ebbw Vale's crucial European Shield clash at home to Rovigo on Saturday - but is backing his side to grab victory.

Billen is set to sit out his first game in 18 months with a neck injury suffered in the 21-10 opening Shield defeat in Agen.

"I went off after 65 minutes. I can't remember much about how it happened. All I know is my head was stuck to my shoulder and I was walking around like the Honey Monster afterwards," said Billen.

"I went to hospital in Agen for a CAT scan afterwards and spent the night there and had an MRI scan in Cardiff on Monday.

"I don't know if it's an old injury or a new one, but I don't feel too bad now after being in a brace over the weekend and I hope I may be able to play some part on Saturday, even if it's on the substitutes' bench.

"I didn't miss a game at all last year and haven't done so for 18 months, so I want to be involved."

Second row Billen, who played on the blind side flank in Agen, was happy with Vale's display there and is adamant they can qualify from their group.

"We were in the game all the way through. It was just a shame towards the end we had to chase the game and try a few things," he said.

"With hindsight I made a few bad calls. I should have gone for goal on a couple of occasions.

"But the good things was our set piece was excellent. We had done our homework, we had them creaking in the scrums and we even managed to pinch some of their lineout ball.

"For 39 minutes we were on top but they scored a try just before half time and then, in the second half, we were caught sleeping as Lamaison kicked across field for their wing to score in the corner.

"But we definitely believe we can qualify from this group. We can win our three home games and pinch an away win, we are targetting Rovigo, and if we can then keep things tight in Montauban we can get through."

All three other teams in the group will expect to beat Rovigo but Billen promises Vale will not be complacent.

"We won't underestimate Rovigo. We will be taking them very seriously," he said. "We have been playing well, but at the end of the day we have not been winning, so we cannot be complacent.

"We will go into the game with confidence and if there is any pressure, because we are expected to win, perhaps that is what we need.

"We have been underdogs in most of the games we've played, so perhaps this is the kick we need because we need to win this one and the away clash.

"We don't expect Rovigo to be as strong as Agen up front, so we hope to dominate them, provide a platform and score some points."