NEWPORT are out to avoid a hat-trick they don't want when they face Pontypridd in the Welsh League Premier Division at Rodney Parade tonight.

Defeat would mean three losses in a row following successive setbacks against Maesteg in the cup and Bedwas in the league.

It won't be easy for Newport as Ponty are in the semi-finals of the Konica Minolta Cup and are fourth in the league, two places above Newport and with games in hand on third placed Aberavon.

And there is little which motivates Pontypridd more than a visit to Rodney Parade to take on Newport.

"They're a good side, they had a good win on Saturday (beating Ebbw Vale 32-8) and they're focusing on the cup final," said Newport coach David Rees.

"They play an open, attractive style of rugby, but only Neath have done the double over us this season and after losing at Ponty we don't want there to be another.

"They're doing well in the league and in the cup and they have a lot of pride whereas our confidence is low after two bad defeats."

Rees is looking for a vastly improved performance from his Newport side and questions the attitude of some of the players.

"We've let ourselves down recently, we had a good win against Cardiff and put in a couple of good performances in the league and cup, especially at Aberavon, and we were full of confidence," he said.

"But we were poor against Maesteg and we went down again on Saturday on the back of that.

"It's now finding 15 players who want to play for the rest of the season. We are in the top six in the league and we want to stay there, but it was a motivational factor losing in the cup the way we did.

"We rely on the professionalism of the players in the squad, they should still wear the shirt with pride and play for one another.

"There's no hiding place and we've got to make sure we front up and perform for the fans and for the club."

Newport squad: R Williams, L Hinton, W Kershaw-Naylor, G Chapman, R Fussell, R Shorney (captain), R Payne, J Rowles, D Griffiths, M Thomas, G Crothers, D Pattison, I Evans, G Robinson, A Brown, R James, M Veater, M Workman, N Watkins, P Williams, R Jones, S Waldron, M Popham, C Davies, R Dale. Kick-off 7.15pm.