EBBW Vale travel to Spain on Friday hoping they can make sure of their place in the next round of the Parker Pen European Shield.

Madrid need to beat Ebbw Vale by more than 21 points at home on Saturday to make the last eight of the competition where they are most likely to meet French side Pau.

Vale beat Madrid by 37-16 on Saturday and the Gwent side are favourites to go through to the last eight of the competition - the same stage they reached last season - where they face either GRAN Parma or Pau.

GRAN Parma beat Pau 21-16 last weekend and the game is delicately poised when the two sides face each other again on Saturday.

But Vale will want to make sure of their progression first, and outside-half Scott Mitchell is itching to get out there after scoring two tries in last weekend's win.

Mitchell has endured a tough 12 months with his persistent groin strain finally being cured with an operation.

But, after scoring two tries, he said: "I was happy to play more than anything.

"The boys were looking for a good performance. There was a lot of talking last week about our poor performance against Llanelli and we just wanted to get our train on the tracks against Madrid."

Although he has been playing well, Vale scrum-half Bryan Shelbourne has been kicking poorly, but Mitchell was reluctant to put himself in the frame as first-choice kicker.

"I don't know about that," he said.

"It's all about confidence. I haven't kicked in a match since I was playing for Newport two years ago.

"I picked up the groin injury when I was down there. I had the operation to fix it about eight months ago.

"Because I had so long off, I need to get back up to speed to kick in the games.

"It's all well and good kicking in practice, but you have to transfer it into the games.

"There's no pain from the injury, it's a bit psychological with me which I am struggling to shake."

But a trip to Spain has to be appealing at anytime of year and while Madrid showed they are no mugs, Vale have reason to feel fairly confident about progressing to the next round.

Mitchell said: "I'm looking forward to getting out there. It should be a very different game from what we are used to.

"They are a good side but we need to look at the video and work out where we can attack them again."

But once Vale get their Spanish trip out of the way, they can look forward to Christmas about as much as a turkey.

Llanelli at home on Saturday December 21 is followed by Cardiff at the Arms Park on Boxing Day, before a trip to Sardis Road to face Pontypridd on January 4.

He said: "It's going to be a tough old Christmas. It's probably the hardest time of the year for us."