While the odds are stacked firmly against Michael Bradley's Connacht side qualifying for next year's Heineken Cup, the coach remains optimistic ahead of this Friday's Magners League game against the Dragons.
"Having played well against Ulster last week, we were disappointed not to have done better considering the opportunities we created," said Bradley. However, the result leaves Connacht eight points adrift at the bottom of the table having played one more game than Ulster.
"Now we're faced with a situation where we can still qualify for the Heineken Cup as both Ulster and the Dragons have hard run-ins. If we can get a win in Rodney Parade then we're still in a position to achieve our objective for the season.
"However in the past our matches against the Dragons have gone to the home side. While we beat them in our first match, the Dragons have put in a lot of good performances this season and they're quite formidable at home so it'll be a difficult ask," added the coach.
Bradley believes the key to success at Rodney Parade will be to play a varied game against their Welsh opponents.
"From our point of view we have to keep varying our game. We're hoping for a dry day as we've played our last couple of matches in difficult conditions in particular against the home provinces. It'll be nice to get a top of the ground type of game and I think both sides will be looking to put width on the game and on that basis it should make for an exciting encounter."
