TOM Prydie knows that he can ill afford to have an off day if Newport Gwent Dragons are to be looking forward to a European Rugby Challenge Cup semi-final this evening.

The Wales wing will be a central figure in today's quarter-final clash with Cardiff Blues at Rodney Parade (kick-off 12.45pm) as eight of 11 meetings between the sides in Newport have been settled by under a score.

Full-back Jason Tovey may be the leading points scorer in the region's history while fly-half Dorian Jones has proved more than capable from the tee but it is Prydie who starts with the kicking duties.

"I'm sure it will be a tight game," said the 23-year-old. "It's a huge occasion against local rivals and it could well come down to a few points, so both kickers need to be on point."

Prydie suffered a nightmare from the tee in the loss to Zebre, making just one of five attempts and missing a pair of simple efforts in the closing stages when the score was 20-17.

"You get days like that and nobody needed to tell me that it was below-par, I was more disappointed than anyone else," he said. "But you just have to get on with it and I kicked better in the win against Treviso last weekend.

"It's something that I will constantly be working on and it's good to have pressure on me to keep the tee with other good kickers in the squad."