F SWANSEA City had their way, Newport County goalkeeper Pat Mountain would be lining-up between the sticks at the other end of the pitch tonight.

The Vetch Field club made a bid to the former Welsh under-21 keeper in the summer and the Football League outfit would have been forgiven for thinking that a move from the part-time game into the professional ranks, would have been an offer Mountain could hardly refuse.

But Mountain weighed up his options before rejecting then Swans manager Nick Cusack.

The 26-year-old Welsh semi-pro said: "I'd rather stay at an up-and-coming club that's challenging for something rather than keep worrying about the prospect of relegation."

If Mountain had said 'yes' to the Third Division Swans, he would have to quit his good day-job as a football development officer in Caerphilly County Borough.

Also a factor in Mountain's decision was the consistent performances of Swansea's veteran Welsh international keeper Newport-born Roger Freestone.

County's No 1 believed he would very rarely get the opportunity to play regular first-team football as Freestone, also Mountain's part-time goalkeeping coach at Newport, had hardly missed a game since signing for the Swans in 1991.

But in a twist of irony, Freestone, who has been suffering with a back problem all season, has been constantly playing through the pain barrier for Brian Flynn as there is no back-up keeper at the Vetch.

However, with Swansea's current cash crisis in mind, ex-Cardiff City man Mountain insists: "I feel my situation is a lot more secure."

County boss Peter Nicholas will delay naming his side until midfielder Mike Fowler (dead leg) and striker Neil Davis (knee ligaments) have taken fitness tests.

Swansea see the game as a welcome break from the toils of Third Division football. Their 2-0 home win against Lincoln City on Saturday followed a run of six straight defeats which makes them favourites for relegation into the Conference.

Swans' chief Flynn, who won the competition three times during his 12 years at Wrexham, said: "It's been a very rewarding competition for me. I've always played my strongest team, I don't use it to experiment or give people games because there's nothing better than winning a competition."

There will be 200 standing pay-on-the-night places available on a first-come first-served basis as they cannot sell tickets for the all-ticket grandstand today on police advice.

There will be a minute's silence before the game in memory of former County captain Ray Wilcox, who played 546 games for the old Ironsides between 1939 and 1960.

He became County's trainer until 1970. He died aged 81 on Sunday after suffering for many years from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

Newport County (from) Mountain, Collins, Benton, Thomas, Clark, Davies, Ashington, Rose, Fowler, Plant, Shephard, Eckhardt, Davis, Stevenson, Perry, Jones, French, Dupres, Hart

Swansea City (from) Freestone, T Evans, Smith, Tate, Howard, Reid, Mumford, Britton, Williams, Nugent, Thomas, Richards, Watkin, Jenkins, Stiens, Phillips, Wood, O'Leary.