Dean Ryan has vowed that Dragons will focus on performance and not be side-tracked by permutations to chase a top four place in the Guinness PRO14.
Dragons tackle Edinburgh Rugby at Principality Stadium on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 2pm).
Ryan’s men could yet finish in the top four in Conference A – and with it potential secure Champions Cup rugby next season – depending on how results fall this weekend.
However, the Director of Dragons Rugby is determined not to get hung up on potential outcomes and instead will give Edinburgh his full focus as the team bid to build on the win over Glasgow Warriors last weekend.
“We approach this the same as every other game - we have got to get the first 40-50 minutes right,” he said.
“It’s very different circumstances when you start trying to do the maths before you start playing.
“We do the first 50 minutes the same as we would do any other game and you work out from there what happens next.
“If you start looking to early it takes you away from the things that you know and things that you are good at it.
“We know we have been pretty consistent in the last three or four weeks and my biggest driver is that we keep that going.
“If you spend all your time talking about the last ten minutes, you’ll probably get there in a pretty poor position.
“We have probably focused on what our first 50 should look like more than what our last 20 or 10 will look like.
“If we get that right then we probably got more choices available to us as we get later into the game.”
Meanwhile, Ryan has reported positive news over a trio of injuries sustained last weekend.
“Josh Lewis went over his ankle in the warm-up, so that will be three to four weeks to get him through that,” revealed Ryan.
“Ollie (Griffiths) hyper-extended in the first ten minutes of the game, but thankfully that isn’t anything more serious. Again that will probably be three or four weeks until we get a better idea.
“Jamie (Roberts) has a dead leg that has probably switched off a bit around his knee, so we decided to go with Jack (Dixon) and get us ready to go. Jamie shouldn’t be too long but the other two will be a few weeks.”
We know we have been pretty consistent in the last three or four weeks and my biggest driver is that we keep that going...
