CROSS Keys captain Leon Andrews is calling on his men to put their British and Irish Cup woes behind them this weekend and shock league champions Pontypridd in their own backyard.

The Pandy Park side have suffered a thoroughly miserable December having being thrashed 48-10 by Bedford Blues at home before embarking on a joyless dead rubber visit to Doncaster last weekend which saw them humbled 54-0 by the rampaging Knights.

Keys were British and Irish Cup runners-up in 2012 but this campaign saw them fail to hit that previous high by some distance, winning just one out of six pool games as they finished bottom of their group.

This season, just like last, they fielded a number of young or fringe Newport Gwent Dragons alongside regular personnel, but it was a project that clearly failed to ignite them as they produced some decidedly disjointed performance.

So, it’s back to the bread and butter of the Principality Premiership now and centre Andrews remains upbeat they can upset last season’s league and cup double champions Pontypridd at their infamous ‘House of Pain’ fortress.

But the Keys skipper knows it won’t be easy, especially with the hosts riding high again, enjoying a 100 per cent record in the league after eight wins from eight and buoyed by their own qualification for the quarter-finals of the British and Irish Cup.

Andrews said: “It’s been a tough last three weeks for us in the British and Irish Cup, but that’s gone now.

“It’s great to be able to focus on the league again and we need to get back on track – and pretty quickly really.

“And there’s no better place to go to try and turn things around than Sardis Road where we’ll be going all out for a smash and grab.

“We certainly aren’t concerned about facing Ponty – we’ll be going there to win and win well.

“We have ambitions of challenging for the league this season and going on another excellent cup run.”

Pontypridd were Keys’ nemesis last season, beating the Gwent side 21-8 in the Swalec Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in early May before being overpowered by them again just a fortnight later 38-17 at Sardis Road in the Premiership Grand Final.

Keys did stun Ponty by that same scoreline of 38-17 when they played them last December away in the league and will be looking for history to repeat itself 12 months on.

Andrews said: “We are fully aware of what we are capable of if we play to our potential. I think we really have a good chance this weekend.

“We realise we have a lot of work to do this week but it’s great to have our regular squad back together.

“It’s important to build up a run and start to build up some consistency and challenge for the league title again.

“We’ve got a important run of games coming up with Newport at home in a big derby on December 27 after Ponty and Bridgend away early in the new year.”