Backs Coach Gordon Ross firmly believes Dragons are heading in the right direction and making progress this season.
Ross led the region for the recent home Guinness PRO14 clash with Munster – with Dean Ryan absent as he self-isolates – and was pleased with the manner in which the team stood up the Irish power challenge.
Dragons take on a fourth Irish province this season on Saturday when they welcome Connacht to Rodney Parade (kick-off 5.15pm).
And despite suffering defeats to Leinster, Ulster and Munster, Ross hopes to see further progress in his side’s performance.
“I think we are definitely making progress,” he said. “We have improved in many areas as a group.
“Obviously physicality has been mentioned and our aerial skills have improved too, you could see that last week, especially in those conditions.
“We want to win every game; that is one of the reasons we play rugby.
“We have also come up against three of the best teams in the competition so far and we do feel like we are getting better, although results maybe don’t suggest that. We are seeing marked improvements in aspects of our game.”
Ross continued: “We got challenged by Ulster the week before physically and we struggled at times, but I thought our physicality was excellent against Munster. We stood up to it really, really well.
“There were some really good positive things that came out of the game last weekend.”
The former Scottish international fly half will once again be at the helm this Saturday in the absence of Director of Dragons Rugby, Dean Ryan.
Connacht had their league game postponed last weekend - with Benetton hit by a Covid-19 outbreak.
However, Ross does not believe the extra week of preparation for the Irish province will play any part.
“We can’t really effect what goes on at Connacht,” he said. “We’ve obviously watched them over the last few weeks and they have been excellent and played some outstanding rugby.
“The fact they didn’t play last weekend, I don’t think will impact on the game too much.
“We will obviously focus on a few things Connacht do, but we need to focus more on ourselves this week and make sure we are getting better and better regardless of opposition.”
He continued: “We will show a huge amount of respect to Connacht because they are an outstanding side; but we got to make sure we concentrate on our bits and pieces.
“We are looking forward to this weekend. The physicality was excellent last week, so we need to try and take it up another level this week.”
We have also come up against three of the best teams in the competition so far and we do feel like we are getting better... We are seeing marked improvements in aspects of our game...
