Alix Popham has urged Wales to put the threat of the RBS 6 Nations wooden spoon out of their minds before the daunting trip to buoyant Italy on Saturday week.

Three straight defeats have left the 2005 Grand Slam winners propping up the championship table, with Italy clinging on to two precious points from their win in Scotland.

And Popham, the Llanelli Scarlets back-rower, knows nothing less than a victory in Rome will do.

"Naturally, the wooden spoon is in the back of your mind, but firstly we have to go out there to Italy for a win and that's all we are going out there for," insisted Popham, a scorer of one of Wales' three tries in Paris in Saturday's 32-21 defeat to France.

"It's going to be a tough, very physical game and we are going to know we have been in a game after you have played it.

"The game on Saturday was very physical and we took it to the French and we are going to have to look to have the same approach in Italy.

"We watched the game on Saturday and the Italians looked very powerful in the scrum.

"They had a great result at Murrayfield and it's going to be a very challenging game out there in Italy.

"They put the Scots under a lot of pressure early on with their blitz defence, which allowed them to get a few interceptions early on.

"In the end, they made Scotland pay."

Though Wales are still looking for their first championship victory of the campaign, Popham insisted the Wales camp was relatively upbeat.

"The boys were pleased with certain parts of the game, but we are disappointed we didn't keep hold of that early scoreline of 14-3," he said.

"France came back strong but we didn't give up and showed a lot of character.

"We gave them a couple of penalties and they just kept ticking over and they managed to claw their way into the lead and you just can't do that against the French.

"They had good defence and they obviously analysed our scrum and line-out. We did similar, but it was about who made the least mistakes in the end."

Not only did Wales lose in Paris, they faced two potentially worrying injuries.

The camp will spend the early part of this week assessing problems with wing Mark Jones and prop Chris Horsman.

Jones went off with bruised ribs and Horsman twisted an ankle on Saturday.

With a lack of strength in depth in both positions, coach Gareth Jenkins will be hoping both players recover before Saturday week.

He said: "It's too early to tell whether they will be fit. Time will tell - we have two weeks before the next game.

"We will make an assessment during the week, but it's hard to say at this stage whether they will be available."

If Jones is ruled out then former Wales captain Gareth Thomas, whose European ban ended yesterday, could find himself back in the frame.

Jenkins announced that all the Wales squad are being released to their regions and clubs today, but the 15 who started in Paris will be unavailable for weekend fixtures.