EBBW Vale will be hoping their Mr Indestructible will help them through when they face up to Welsh Champions Llanelli on Saturday.

Confidence at Vale is not exactly on a high against the Scarlets after they have been trounced twice already this season 53-13 at home at the end of November and 37-25 away last September.

But Vale coach Mike Ruddock has beefed up his forwards since the Steelmen were hammered at Eugene Cross Park by the Scarlets. Wales A lock Chay Billen plays at blind-side and one o f the few Vale players to shine is the Tongan international Tuipulotu.

The sight of the quietly-spoken South Sea Islander crashing into defences has been a recurring scene and Ruddock was quick to praise the 35-year-old who celebrated his birthday at the start of the month.

He said: "Very few players are as professional as Kati, he never misses a training session and he seems to be indestructible.

"Other players seem to be on the physio's couch quite a bit more than they need to be, but that wouldn't apply to Kati."

Ruddock added that because of his attitude and seemingly inability to get injured, Tuipulotu is probably Vale's most cost effective player.

Normally a blind-side flanker, Tuipulotu has been switched to number-eight as Ruddock looks to utilise his side's strength in the heavy conditions.

With the next few months much less likely to produce dry pitches to play flowing rugby, Ruddock is playing the larger combination of Billen, Tuipulotu and Williams in the back-row - Rhys or Paul.

Paul Williams is better suited to a fast-flowing game, but Rhys Williams, the Wales Under-21 international is the better ball carrier of the two.

Either way, Vale desperately need a solid performance against Llanelli to boost their flagging season.

Their recent wins over Madrid in the Parker Pen European Shield came against one of the weakest teams in the competition and this will be a much tougher test for them, even if the Welsh Champions are due to field a weaker side.

Director of rugby Gareth Jenkins is expected to make widespread changes to the side that beat Sale 17-12 at Stradey Park on Friday night.

Leigh Davies is likely to be one of those rested for the visit to Eugene Cross Park.

The 20-times capped centre has struggled to train before last week's game because of a knee and calf problem.

Wing Wayne Proctor was taken to hospital after the Sale match following a bang to the head, while Salesi Finau is still being troubled with the knee problem that forced him to miss last Friday's game.

Ebbw Vale: R Davies, N Wakely, R Shorney, E Binham, A Bevan, S Mitchell, B Shelbourne, A Black, L Phillips, M Jones, O Booyse, N Edwards, C Billen, K Tuipulotu, R Williams/P Williams. Replacements: D Penisini, J Evans, P Sidoli, W Thomas/Williams, A Takarangi, M Meenan