Ashton Hewitt is included in the 25-man travelling squad named by Bernard Jackman after missing the last three Pro14 games as the Dragons spend the week in the South African sun to prepare for the Kings match.
The touring Dragons know they will face a tough physical test on Friday against a team that have yet to record a win this season, but marginally missed out on beating the Ospreys last weekend.
"The Kings will target us for a win too and we cant expect any respect if we don’t earn it, so we need to improve," said Jackman after defeat to Edinburgh last time out.
Jackman was pleased to have the week away in South Africa in preparation for the clash with Pro14 basement team the Kings after witnessing a disappointing performance at Eugene Cross Park.
"It’s really good to get away to South Africa," said Bernard.
"We didn’t do ourselves justice or live up to the opportunity at Ebbw Vale, there was too many individual errors, no urgency and we were quite passive in letting Edinburgh control the game which they did well.
"The reality is we didn’t fire and that’s really frustrating as we wanted to do better than that.
"We struggled with the physicality against Edinburgh - our line out didn’t function, our line out maul defence was poor and we lost ball in contact and we didn’t have one area of the game that we dominated so we got what we deserved.
"The boys are sticking together quite well it just hasn’t happened for us the last couple of weeks, but we’ll find the right prep and message and we will hopefully turn it round.
"We've done some surfing and safari to enjoy each other’s company whilst training well so that we get a good performance and we’re crying out for a win on Friday night."
The Dragons confirmed the signing of Ryan Bevington yesterday, the third player to sign from Bristol and the eighth new recruit for next season, as Jackman continues to assemble a new squad for 2018/19 with more new signings expected.
"Recruitment wise it’s not done, over the next couple of weeks we’ll have two or three more and hopefully one of which will cause quite a stir," he added.
"We haven’t pushed on this season but thankfully there’s a re-build happening. We’re not going into next season with the same squad, if we were we would be worried but we saw early doors that we didn’t have enough depth and quality so we’re addressing that and that’s ongoing. "
Bevington joins Hibbard and Moriarty as incoming players with international experience due to showcase their talents at Rodney Parade next season with Bernard pleased to add their knowledge as well as skills to the squad.
"International caps are a sign of experience and we’re massively down on our competitors so we’re addressing that. Thankfully Hallam, Elliot, Leon and Cory are picking up a few more, but we’re bringing in players that have played at international level.
"international quality players help you win games. If you don’t have enough of them you struggle. We need to keep working as hard as we can to the end of the season and become a team that is competitive."
CLICK HERE for tickets to see the Dragons final home game of the season at Rodney Parade against South African team Toyota Cheetahs on Friday 23 March
