CONNACHT are targeting Friday night's Newport Gwent Dragons match (kick off 7.10pm at Rodney Parade) as they aim to achieve their season's objective of qualifying for the Heineken Cup for the first time.

Although the Irish minnows recognise the odds are stacked against them making it into Europe's premier rugby competition, they are determined to give it their best shot.

Connacht are currently bottom of the Magners League, eight points adrift of the Dragons and Ulster, having played more matches than their near rivals.

But their coach Michael Bradley still refuses to throw in the towel and his side come to Rodney Parade in determined mood.

Bradley said : "Having played well against Ulster last week (Connacht lost 18-6 in Belfast), we were disappointed not to have done better considering the opportunities we created.

"Now we're faced with a situation where we can still qualify for the Heineken Cup as both Ulster and the Dragons have a hard run-in.

"If we can get a win in Rodney Parade then we're still in a position to achieve our objective for the season."

Although Connacht beat the Dragons 22-7 in Galway at the beginning of the season, past form shows they are unlikely to emerge victorious as Bradley said: "In the past, our matches against the Dragons have gone to the home side.

"While we beat them earlier this season 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."

A former Irish international scrum-half, who won 40 caps for his country between 1984 and 1995, Bradley said the Connacht game plan centres around stopping the Dragons' backs: "Having watched the Dragons over the last couple of matches, they've played a more expansive game so they're developing all the time.

"From our point of view we have to restrict their opportunities to put width on the ball and in doing so that might create opportunities for ourselves in terms of turnovers and eventually getting into a winning position in the match."