Dai Flanagan looked to the future after the home defeat to Glasgow Warriors and vowed to ‘stress’ the squad in the coming weeks to ensure they continue to develop.
Dragons ended the final block with a 42-28 defeat to the Scots – with a late Chris Coleman try grabbing a bonus point.
Flanagan admitted Dragons had been the masters of their own downfall at times at Rodney Parade.
But the Head Coach insists the team can now continue to grow and a period without games until mid-February can be hugely beneficial.
“It was a difficult match for us - we were our own worst enemies,” he said.
“There is a side to that that is disappointing, but it is also exciting because we can control how we get better.
“We lost the game in two ten-minute periods. We’ve got to sort that out.
“But some of our attacking play, some of our shape and the energy compared to last week was much better.
“That is the standard. Glasgow come down here, they are missing a few, but they are a good squad and that’s where we’ve got to get to.
“We’ve been in a tough ten-game block with short turnarounds,” he added.
“Physically we’ve had to get ourselves ready and mentally we haven’t stressed ourselves enough, but and that excites me.
“Now we have a block with only two games over the next six weeks.
“We can really stress ourselves, put pressure on the players, and we can coach in depth and move on.
“We’ve got two-week build-up to the next two games, so we’ve got to target them.
“We need wins, that is what energises people and that is what gets people excited.
“I am seeing development on the field, not as fast as I would like, but that is me being honest. We will get there."
Flanagan also revealed how work on the club’s defensive system is also under way as he looks to change the approach.
“We’ve tried to change in block, and I have put some pressure on Simon Cross because I want us to bring more line speed,” he revealed.
“We are a physical team and we’ve been very system based at the Dragons for years.
“Was it the wrong time to do it? I will reflect on that, but we are going to be more intense off the line and more physical, we will see that in the next block.”
The Head Coach also believes the late consolation try bonus point underlined the character in the squad.
“The bonus is a consolation and shows what this group are about,” he said.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the people in our dressing room.
“We explode at periods, but we manage to dig in and we don’t go away. That is a good trait to have.
“We don’t get much time off now. We have Leinster in three weeks, and we need to work.
“We’ll have a couple of days to recover and then we’re back in. It is about stressing ourselves and preparing ourselves – we’ll see how we react under that pressure.”
We lost the game in two ten-minute periods... We’ve got to sort that out... But some of our attacking play, some of our shape and the energy compared to last week was much better...
