POOLER host league leaders Neath on Saturday in the last of a hat-trick of games against the top sides in the Welsh Premiership, with coach David Gray admitting he has a "funny feeling" his boys can spring a shock.

His side crashed to a 27-11 reverse at Aberavon on Saturday after a three-point loss to Bridgend a fortnight ago, and on paper Pooler will not be expected to trouble a Neath outfit who have lost just once this season. But Gray is willing to throw the form book out the window, and pull off an upset at the Park on Saturday.

He said: "We've been unfortunate to have these three games on the bounce but the boys are making these sides work tremendously hard for their results.

"But I've got a funny feeling about the Neath game - we've nothing to lose and they've got to play Cross Keys midweek and we don't know what kind of a team they'll bring here.

"But whatever happens on Saturday if we take this effort into the Bedwas game and the rest of the season it's going to come good."

Gray admitted he had been "a bit disappointing" to lose to Aberavon, but added that it could have been so different. He said: "They had a charged down try early doors and the referee gave them a penalty try from the very first scrum five yards out.

"Then we squandered a try ourselves to get back in the game just after half time, which would have made it 22-18 and it could have put a different light on it but it wasn't to be."

Three tries down early on, two kicks from Pooler's Sam Mills and a Gavin Donaldson try brought the score back to 17-11, only for centre Darren Ryan to stretch Aberavon's lead. Nathan Daniels, Scott Williams and Owen Jones all went close after the interval, but the only points of the half came two minutes after skipper Gavin Lucas had been sin-binned.

Gray, who named Adam Sliczny at centre, Mike Poole and substitute Phil Sargent as his best men on the day; added: "We showed a lot of steel and didn't crumble or give in and the second half the defence was far better."

Pontypool: Smith, Poole, Sliczny (Woodard), Williams, Daniels (Hitchcock), Mills, Parry (Jones), Giles (McCarthy), Meades (Jeunne), Blake, Rosser, Cox, Amos (Burns), Lucas, Donaldson (Sargent).