Dean Ryan has warned Dragons they must adopt the right mindset from the off in Italy - as they prepare to face Zebre in the United Rugby Championship this afternoon (kick-off 3.05pm UK time).
The Men of Gwent have jetted over to Parma to face an Italian side that have yet to win this season in the league.
However, the Italians pushed Edinburgh all the way last time out and Director of Dragons Rugby knows too well what can happen after the result last season at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi.
He said: “We lost to them last year out there when we went with a poor mindset. We can't afford to do that again.
“We’ve got some challenges with availability, and this is the most congested period we are going to play.
“We have got to hit this game in the right mindset - we can't expect something that has played out all year just to fall in our lap.
“We have got to go out there and play well.”
Ryan also expects Zebre to look to pressurise his Dragons at the drive and in the set piece.
“We can't hide from that, everybody has looked at it and we are not consistently week in, week out doing what we talk about,” he said.
“We did it against Scarlets away and then after some personnel changes didn't do it at the same level that we expect at home.
“Until we make that reputation go away, people are not going to go away from the drive. I've no doubts it's coming at the weekend.”
Meanwhile, Ryan has praised lock Joe Davies as he hits a century of appearances for Dragons this afternoon in Italy.
“Joe is a fantastic workhorse who sometimes goes unnoticed,” said Ryan. “His qualities lie in some of the dark arts around drive and scrum.
“We are trying to add more to his games in terms of mobility, but his heart is rooted in the dark arts.”
We have got to hit this game in the right mindset - we can't expect something that has played out all year just to fall in our lap...
