NEWPORT head coach Ian Hembrow expects that personal pride will ensure there is no gentle wind down to the campaign as he prepares his charges for the trip to Stradey Park to tackle Llanelli.

The Black and Ambers, who lost at champions Neath last weekend, are out of the cup and have only a faint hope of improving their seventh place in the Premiership table.

But Hembrow has stressed the importance of finishing strongly in order to build for next season, even though he won't be the man in the Rodney Parade hot seat.

He said: "Personal pride should be the motivation for the players, as a group we feel we should be higher in the table and the only way to do that is by winning our last three games.

"The Neath coaches said they felt our organisation in both attack and defence had come on leaps and bounds since we met them earlier in the season and the aim is to keep improving.

"I thought we had a very good 60 minutes at the Gnoll but then we paid the price for yellow cards. But there were plenty of good things to take forward to Stradey and I am determined that we are going to come away from one of my old clubs with the points."

Tomorrow they will face a Llanelli side that have lost their last five games but that doesn't tell the whole story.

The Stradey side have fielded an incredible 51 players this campaign due to sevens and age grade call-ups and featured three 17-year-olds in their loss to Ebbw Vale last weekend.

"They will be trying to blood some of their academy players and will be full of beans," said Hembrow. "But we have had some interesting selections to make of our own with some younger players looking to make an impact.

"I thought the likes of Mike Burke, Ceri Young, Adam Frampton and Tom Organ continued to impress against Neath. There was a little bit more composure and they will keep develping as they get more experience."

Number eight Andrew Coombs misses out with a dead leg while fellow back-row forward Paul Williams' season is over due to knee ligament damage. Hooker Mike Catris is on the bench on permit from Rumney.

Newport: M Burke, R Fussell, N Williams, S Williams, M Poole, M Hook, A Walker, D Pattison (captain), A Brown, S Maguire, M Veater, A Frampton, R Dale, C Hill, L Evans. Replacements: I Evans, M Catris, M Workman, R Field, M Thomas, D Griffiths, W Kershaw-Naylor.