HEAD honcho Leighton Jones has praised his senior players who are doing a “fantastic job” in making sure complacency doesn’t creep into the Pontypool squad.

Pooler have enjoyed a perfect season so far, winning all their league games and knocking Llanelli out of the cup.

Jones’ men get back to the bread and butter of the Championship today with a trip to Skewen (kick-off 2.30pm).

Pontypool’s strength in depth is such that Jones has made nine changes to the side that started the famous 19-11 defeat of Llanelli.

Jamie Jeune, Alex Watkins and Ryan Harford form a new-look front row, Ben Egan comes in at lock, and Matthew Thomas and Cameron Watson-Boycott get the nod in the back row.

Behind, full-back Tom Hancock, centre Clayton Gullis and wing Josh Hurley replace Kieran Meek, Sione Tu’ipulotu and Rhodri Usher.

With one victory following another for the league leaders, Jones knows it’s crucial his players don’t take anything for granted from now until the end of the campaign.

“We’ve got a fair bit of competition, so it does keep the boys on their toes,” he said. “Whoever takes the field knows they can’t afford to play at anything other than to the best of their ability.

“We might have beaten Llanelli in the cup but we have to focus on the league now as that’s our bread and butter.

"Skewen's a tough place to go and after the Llanelli win we can’t afford to ease off.”
He added: “This year we've got a senior group of players who drive standards and expectations, and I think they are doing a fantastic job keeping the boys hungry and motivated every week.

“We all sit down on a Tuesday with that senior group and plan the week ahead, and how we’re going to keep the boys motivated.”

After a heavy cup defeat at Merthyr, Newbridge were set to host Glamorgan Wanderers, but the match has been postponed.

Pontypool (at Skewen): T Hancock; J Hurley, D Robinson, C Gullis, M Thorley; M Jones, A Quick; J Jeune, A Watkins, R Harford, R East, B Egan, M Thomas, C Watson-Boycott, B Sparks. Reps: O Drake, T Sparey, A Gibson, R Dyer, K Meek.