THE players at Cross Keys have been left in no doubt about the need to knuckle down to secure a good league finish and avoid their hard graft going to waste.

Keys head to Stradey Park to face Llanelli on the back of three Premiership defeats on the spin, a run that has put their solid league placing under threat.

This campaign has been a dramatic improvement on the last, when only Llandovery finished beneath them, but director of rugby Robert Beale and the rest of the coaching team are determined to finish strongly.

The Pandy Park outfit are currently eighth and are a single point away from Aberavon in fifth, however they could drop to tenth if results went against them this weekend.

Beale said: "We have to finish as high as we can and we are looking onwards and upwards. A club like Cross Keys has to aim to be top four and we simply cannot allow the season to tail off.

"The coaches are determined to finish the season strongly and we have let the players know that and they feel the same way.

"We have beaten some good teams and played some good rugby, but all of that would count for nothing if we tail off and plummet down the league.

"The performances at Llandovery (losing 19-5) and against Newport Saracens (winning 32-8 in the cup) were unacceptable but what better way to get back on track than winning at Stradey Park?

"It's a tremendous place to play, they play in an expansive way on a great surface and that suits us. It's a tall order to go there and win but we have done well there over the past few seasons and the players know how important the game is."

Keys aim for a hat trick of victories on Llanelli turf and if tomorrow's game has half of the drama from last season's encounter then the paying public will get value for money.

It was the Pandy Park side that took the spoils after clinging on for a 27-24 victory, but it was a real backs-to-the-wall effort to do so after seeing scrum-half Ryan James and lock Ben Watkins sent off and Will Thomas and Richard Cornock sin-binned.

"As always discipline will be key, last season I didn't know what to do there were so many players coming on and off," said Beale."But that is totally down to the players once they step onto the pitch, there's not a lot that coaches can do."

Lock Ashley Sweet, who made his Wales Under-20s debut last week, slots in alongside skipper Ben Watkins while Owen Jones has won the scrum-half spot ahead of Ryan James, with James Leadbetter missing due to a hamstring injury.

Cross Keys: L Andrews, L Humphreys, C Pocock, D Dark, M Johnstone, S Sneddon, O Jones, D Preece, L Burns, C Gould, A Sweet, B Watkins (captain), R Peebles, T Lampard, J Malpas.

Replacements: J Price, B Fisher, M Curtis, G Gladwyn, R James, S Mitchell, S Regan.