CWMBRAN Town's Neil Smothers has praised his defensive colleagues for achieving six shut-outs during the Crows' nine-match unbeaten run.

Roger Gibbins' men are the form side ahead of tonight's Welsh Premier League clash at Carmarthen Town (7.30pm) as the Richmond Park outfit have picked up only two wins in ten league outings.

And Cwmbran may have the mental edge over their rivals after a battling Welsh Cup tie last month. The Gwent side won 1-0 despite being reduced to nine-men, but Carmarthen are gunning for revenge.

Smothers, 25, has played an integral part in his side's good run of form which has resulted in Cwmbran conceding only four goals in those nine unbeaten games.

"We have worked very hard on the defensive side of our game," said the college lecturer.

"Earlier in the season we weren't keeping enough clean sheets and that was putting enormous pressure on our strikers to score two or three goals a game just so we could get a draw.

"But now we're getting mean at the back and it's paying dividends. It's an old clich but if you don't concede then you stand a very good chance of winning."

However, Smothers knows there is still a lot of work to be done to guarantee a top eight-spot - and FAW Premier Cup qualification - for Cwmbran, currently in ninth-place.

"The confidence in the camp is good," added Smothers.

"The team-spirit is high and we've got a great bunch of players so everything bodes well."

Smothers then sent best wishes from all his Cwmbran team-mates to manager Tony Willcox, who is recovering in hospital after suffering a heart attack.

"As you can imagine, the mood in training wasn't as upbeat as normal," said Smothers. "Everyone's thinking about Tony and we hope he recovers quickly."

Meanwhile, Cwmbran defender Michael Pattimore and goalkeeper Pat O'Hagan will have operations on their injured knees at the Bupa Hospital in Cardiff next month.

Cwmbran Town (from) M Ellacott, R Carter, N Smothers, N Wigg, G Warton, R Jones, C Watkins, S Mainwaring, A Moore (c), J Welsh, M Dunn, R Hurlin, C Summers, M Morris, M Davies, L O'Connor, D Davies, R David.