Dean Ryan has demanded his Dragons focus on the task in hand and not any possible knockout rugby permutations ahead of the final round of pool games in European Challenge Cup.
Dragons know a maximum points victory over Russian outfit Enisei-STM at Rodney Parade on Friday evening (kick-off 8pm) should be enough to guarantee them a place in the quarter-finals.
When then teams met in Krasnodar in November it was a young Dragons side who ran out convincing 49-22 winners.
However, the Director of Dragons Rugby has warned against complacency and told his team to give Enisei full respect when they arrive in Newport to avoid a final round upset.
“We have just got to focus on the game with Enisei,” he said.
“We have to be careful; rugby can throw some strange things up so we have got to go well next week and win the game. Then we can sit back over the weekend and see what happens.
“The results this weekend have given us some clarity. We know that we have got things in our control again next week, in terms of qualification.
“Where we could end up depends on some of the other results.
“It will be an exciting weekend in the last round of European competition with the knowledge that we’ve a good chance of going through now. We are looking forward to it,” he added.
“The results over the weekend do allow us to look at selection slightly differently and it has been a tough period for us over the derby games and we have quite a few injuries in the squad now.
“I am still trying to do the working out in terms of qualifying, we have had so many suggestions of what it might be, so our focus will be totally on Enisei and doing the job.”
Can Dragons make the knockout stages in Europe? Find out when we face Enisei-STM in the final pool game of the European Challenge Cup at Rodney Parade on Friday, January 17 (kick-off 8pm). Click HERE to buy tickets or call the Ticket Office on 01633 674990.
We have to be careful... rugby can throw some strange things up so we have got to go well next week and win the game...
