CONNACHT'S former Newport wing Matt Mostyn is looking forward to returning to "one of the greatest grounds in Europe" on Sunday.

He's sad Newport Gwent Dragons' financial problems have left them in administration, but still expects them to come out breathing fire at Rodney Parade.

The Australia-born former Irish international said: "Not knowing all the ins and outs of the situation at Newport makes it hard for me to comment

"But I understand the players have taken the news very professionally and that's exactly what I would have expected.

"But it is difficult to cope with and it's a great shame.

"When Tony Brown and Gary Teichmann were at Newport it was probably the most exciting club in Europe.

"They were fantastic times and I consider myself very fortunate to have been a part of that.

"It's a shame to see things going the way they are financially because the boys are doing the business on the field."

Of his return to a ground he graced for three years, the popular player said: "I'm looking forward to it very much.

"I keep in contact with Paul Young, Rod Snow, Andy Marinos and others.

"I know how proud the Dragons are of their record at Rodney Parade.

"It's very important we get stuck in and start well because once the crowd get behind them it's very hard.

"I'll be telling our boys of the great atmosphere there and telling them just to go out and enjoy it because it is one of the truly great rugby grounds in Europe."

Connacht, like the Dragons, have been one of the surprise teams in the Celtic League and are currently lying third to Mike Ruddock's men's fourth.

They failed by just a point to overcome Edinburgh in the Celtic Cup semi-final but have won four times away, including successes at Llanelli and Neath.

Mostyn said: "We targeted the start of the season to get a good set of results under our belts.

"We didn't have anyone involved in the World Cup so it gave us an opportunity, but we have players who I'm sure will be looked at internationally in the future.

"Ireland's depth of talent is quite amazing.

"They've a lot of young guys such as Nathan Brew at Newport coming through at Connacht as well and they are very hungry for success.

"We have been a surprise packet.

"We lost four or five starting players at the end of last year when word came out the financial backing wouldn't be there (Connacht were threatened with being dropped as a region by the Irish RFU).

"So we had to rebuild to a certain extent and a lot of credit goes to our coach, Michael Bradley, that we have gelled together very quickly.

"And there are guys like Eric Ellwood (the former international stand-off) who is in his 16th year at Connacht and is still a great inspiration.

"There's also Darren Yapp, an outstanding young player who I know Eddie O'Sullivan (Ireland's coach) has been talking about as back up to Brian O'Driscoll."

He added: "Our away form has been good, but there hasn't been that amount of pressure on us. No-one's expected us to perform.

"The clubs we've played were affected by guys being away. The real challenge will come now when all those players are back.

"Newport on Sunday is a huge challenge.

"I hear the Gwent boys are playing very well, particularly players like Fozzy (Jason Forster) and Andy (Marinos).

"Fozzy was outstanding the three years I was there as well. Unfortunately he hasn't been recognised representatively, but anyone who plays with him knows how good he is."

He concluded: "It would be nice to get the hat-trick (Connacht have beaten Newport on their previous Celtic League appearances), though it won't be one for me because I was on the wrong end of the other two."