Back row ace Aaron Wainwright has vowed Dragons will stick together and look to fire into the festive derby games - as they look to start 2022 on the front foot.
Wales international Wainwright was a key performer in the region’s last game against Lyon in the European Challenge Cup at Rodney Parade.
Although Dean Ryan’s men lost that encounter on home soil, Wainwright insists there were positives to take forward.
And with Cardiff Rugby first up on New Year’s Day, the 24-year-old is keen to launch a new year with a solid performance.
“We go into the festive derbies excited to see what we can achieve; we all want some good performances in those big derby games,” he said after the clash with Lyon.
“As a senior player, I know my role and it’s important we all stick together as a group. We’re going into a big part of the season and it’s important that the togetherness is there.
“We’re all in this together and we will be doing all we can to get positive performances and move forward.
“I thought we were on top for moments of the game (with Lyon), but discipline let us down at key times and allowed them to get back in - that is where they took the points,” he added.
“There was an improvement compared to the previous week (against Perpignan), but we know discipline cost us at key times so we will go away and look at that.
“We can take a lot from that last home performance, it’s a marked improvement on the last few games and it’s about building on that now as we go into the new year.”