NEWPORT Gwent Dragons need to beat London Wasps at Rodney Parade on Saturday if they are to put the heat on Saracens for a place in the semi-finals of the LV= Cup.

The Aviva Premiership leaders were the only side in Pool One of the tournament to get up and running on opening weekend.

The Dragons were downed 21-13 by the Scarlets, Gloucester were hammered at Northampton and London Irish were edged out by Newcastle.

Sarries, who host the Scarlets on Sunday, bagged a bonus point when beating Wasps in Wycombe but head coach Darren Edwards believes that keeping up with the early pace-setters is not the prime motivation.

"The players taking to the field on Saturday are not even thinking about LV= Cup qualification," he said. "They are thinking about staking a claim to be in the side against Glasgow (in the RaboDirect Pro12) the following week.

"That is the sort of competition that we want to generate, the more people competing for the one shirt the better we will be as a team."

The Dragons head into the game on the back of losses to the Scarlets, Leinster, the Ospreys and Bath.

They face a tricky run of fixtures that pits them against RaboDirect Pro12 top two Glasgow and Leinster followed by a European double-header with Bordeaux.

The Dragons want to get back on the horse after a tough few weeks and they are also looking for a bit of revenge after being edged out by Wasps 20-19 in the Amlin Challenge Cup at a perishing Rodney Parade last January.

"That loss to Wasps was one of many tight ones that went against us last season," lamented Edwards.

"This is their LV= Cup team but the challenge remains the same – they will be well organised and using the same systems Wasps always use.

"Their players will be used to the Wasps way of playing because of A team rugby. It will be a physical game, as it always is against English teams, and we will have to deal with the basics of the set piece and kicking battle."

The Dragons will be hoping for a repeat of their last encounter with Wasps in the LV= Cup in October 2011 when a last-minute penalty by Steffan Jones earned a 30-29 win in Wycombe.