SOMETHING has got to give at Rodney Parade tonight when Newport Gwent Dragons take on Neath-Swansea Ospreys in a Celtic League top-of-the-table clash.

The Ospreys head the table with seven wins out of seven and a ten-point advantage over the Dragons, who have a game in hand and defend an unbeaten ground record in the competition both this season and last.

Unfortunately given the positions of the rivals in the table and their records, both teams will be without eight players due to international calls, one injury and one suspension which will rob the game of some of its significance.

The Dragons lose Percy Montgomery, Hal Luscombe, Ceri Sweeney, Gareth Cooper, Steve Jones, Michael Owen, Luke Charteris and Ross Beattie while the Ospreys will be without Shane Williams, Sonny Parker, Gavin Henson, Adam Jones, Duncan Jones, Brent Cockbain, Ryan Jones and Jonathan Thomas.

But for coaches Chris Anderson and Lyn Jones it will be business as usual as they take a look at their strength in depth ahead of next month's second round of Heineken Cup matches, particularly Anderson who has not seen some of his squad play.

"It can't be helped, that's just how it is," he said about the timing of the fixture while taking a break from watching the South Africans train yesterday. It's still everything to play for and it's important for us to win because we can't let them get too far away from us."

Jones stresses the importance of the occasion. "It's first against second and my experience from last year is that the Dragons have got a couple of old heads in the back row and they make it difficult for sides to play," he said.

"They have got a lot of experience in their forwards and this will be a good test for us. We just have to do the basics right."

That will be even more important as the referee is the renowned Scottish whistle blower Iain Ramage.