NEWPORT Wasps travel to Premier League rivals Arena Essex on Friday desperate for a win to lift them into contention for a play-off place.

It will be the first time in a fortnight that Newport have been able to race competitively and owner Tim Stone says his men are desperate to get back to the track and push for a top-eight spot.

"The boys have been without a match in the last fortnight," he said. "Their just desperate to start racing again and start winning some points."

Wasps are currently second from bottom having lost 11 times and won just three matches all season.

Essex are three places ahead of them, but Wasps have games in hand on all those sides directly above them and a win could help them in their bid to climb up the table.

"We've got matches in hand but at the moment we're still playing catch-up," said Stone. "But a win against Essex would give us a boost ahead of those matches and maybe by August 28 when we've had the same number of meetings as the rest we will have risen up the league a bit."

Following their home fixture with Berwick Bandits on Sunday, the Wasps will face a hectic schedule when they have four meetings in one week.

They travel to the Isle of White next Tuesday, then return home for a double-header against Stoke on Sunday and Swindon on Monday, before travelling to Trelawny, joint bottom with Wasps, on August 28.

Tomorrow's clash will be the third meeting between the two sides so far this season and if the last two matches are anything to go by the fans will be expecting to enjoy a high-scoring affair.

In their first clash of the year the two clubs drew 52-52 in the BPL Trophy, then in the return leg Wasps won 52-41 in another thrilling contest.

But Wasps owner Stone would forego a high-scoring thriller if it meant his side came away with some valuable and much-needed league points.

"League points are what we are after," said Stone. "But our approach has to be to just go out to score as many points as we can and go for the win."

With Ryan Tolley still injured and unavailable for the trip to Essex, Jason King from Conference League side Peterborough has been drafted in to fill the number seven birth. Newport Wasps team: A Henriksson, C Neath, G Cunningham, S Masters, S Smith, R Finlow, J King.

*Before the Wasps Bank Holiday weekend when they face Stoke and Swindon on consecutive days, Hayley Stadium will host its first U16 international match on Friday, August 24 (7pm) when England face Germany in the last of a three-match series.