AFTER successfully sending Aberavon packing last weekend, Cross Keys backs coach Dai Manley is asking his weary troops to dig deep at Eugene Cross Park to complete the second part of a hat trick bid.

Keys bring the curtain down on an encouraging campaign with tomorrow's trip to Ebbw Vale and Tuesday's journey to Bridgend.

The Pandy Park side sit in tenth place but another pair of victories could see them finish eighth -a huge improvement on last season when only Llandovery finished beneath them.

"We set the target of three wins at the end of the season and we now need to finish it off after last week went to plan," said Manley.

"We have got a very, very tired squad of players and we are patching them up week on week but we couldn't ask more of them.

"Aberavon are a good side and although they have a cup semi-final this weekend, we were struggling to field a side and fill the bench so it was a terrific effort. But it was also the style and way that we played that was pleasing.

"We have some young players out there at the moment while Dai Price is playing superbly before he retires."

December's win over the Steelmen was one of the highlights of the season and Manley realises that the gutsy effort needs to be repeated to upset their Gwent rivals.

"Ebbw Vale are one of the strongest teams in the league, as their position and form shows," he said. "But if we can play like we did in the opening quarter against Aberavon then we will cause them problems.

"They are well-organised with pace out wide and an effective pack. It was a massive effort to beat them at Pandy Park and we will need to show that desire and heart to do the double over them."

Keys: L Andrews, J Leadbetter, C Pocock, D Price, M Johnstone, S Sneddon, R James, D Preece, L Burns, N Buck, A Sweet, B Watkins (captain), G Gladwyn, T Lampard, R Peebles. Replacements: B Fisher, C Gould, B Roberts, M Curtis, O Jones, D Dark, M Pewtner.