High-flying Glasgow – top of Conference A in the Guinness PRO14 - ran in five tries to wrap up a bonus point win at a wet and windy Scotstoun Stadium.
But battling Dragons forced them to work hard throughout the league fixture and were deservedly rewarded with a second half score from Adam Warren.
“I was proud of the effort we put in - we showed we have learnt from our last away game,” said Jackman.
“We had some disruption early in the game, losing our ten and our hooker after a few minutes, but the boys who came in did a great job.
“We didn’t really get set piece dominance and there are things we could have done better. But I’m proud of the effort and we need to use that as a platform for next week and the derby.
“We defended well - but too much in the end,” he added. “I think Glasgow and Leinster are probably the two hardest places to go in this competition.
“Glasgow have come back from a defeat last week with a full strength side. They have a very good attacking game so we managed to defend pretty well. But when we did make a mistake we got punished for it.
“We kicked the ball out on the full and that led to the first try after half-time. That was a key score for them to get two scores ahead of us. It gave them confidence and meant we were chasing the game.
“Our defence was better but we need to make sure our set piece is better because to come to places like this, in conditions like that, your set piece has to be dominant.”
Jackman believes the manner of the performance shows there is more depth to the squad now at Rodney Parade – he made seven changes for the trip to Scotland.
And now he wants his ream to channel the performance into a big home clash with Cardiff Blues next Saturday afternoon.
“We’ve got way more depth to our squad now,” he said. “Last year when we rested players and made some changes we weren’t competitive. But today we definitely made Glasgow work.
“We’ve got to be hard to beat if we want to win away from home, particularly at somewhere like Glasgow where they are formidable and have a great record.
“We are disappointed we didn’t get anything out of the game, but there are positives to take.
“Cardiff Blues are doing very well, but we should have some bodies back and we will see how the injured players pull up. It’s going to be a big crowd at Rodney Parade and we are really looking forward to it.”
