Boss Dean Ryan has reflected on an encouraging season of progress at Dragons – with the new campaign now less than two weeks away.
The curtain fell on the extended 2019/20 season following defeat in the European Challenge quarter-finals to Bristol Bears.
Focus now quickly turns to the 2020/21 Guinness PRO14 campaign which will be under way in less than a fortnight.
Director of Dragons Rugby Ryan believes the region has taken steps forward in his first season in charge, although the focus remains on long-term development and progression.
And with the likes of Nick Tompkins, Jonah Holmes, Jamie Roberts, Joe Maksymiw and Greg Bateman added to the squad he is confident that Dragons can continue that upward trajectory.
"We are happy that the steps we have taken," said Ryan. "We have got a lot more selection headaches and a lot more depth.
"Some of our youngsters are coming through and that progress is crucial.
"We have got a couple of other guys - Greg Bateman is to come in - and some real options that last year we didn't have when we were sometimes down to the bare bones.
"We would hope to be more consistently strong this year."
Reflecting on the European season, Ryan believes the defeat at Bristol has given his team a taste of the levels they must strive to hit in the Heineken Champions Cup.
Dragons will be in Europe's elite competition for the first time since 2011 in the coming campaign and Ryan wants to see his team show they have learnt the lessons of defeat at Ashton Gate.
"We've come to a quarter-final against one of the biggest strike powers in England in terms of scoring potential and it was probably a little bit too far for us,” he said.
"But we want to be here and loved being here, now the challenge is getting better while we are here.
"Our big learning curve is around the middle part of the game when they had a scoring burst after we had controlled the first 20 minutes.
"They get a burst, which they are always capable of with the quality they have, and I think we just lost accuracy.
"We had control but it derailed us and that's where we've got to challenge ourselves to be better against sides as good as this."
We are happy that the steps we have taken... We have got a lot more selection headaches and a lot more depth...
