NEWPORT Gwent Dragons centre Ashley Smith admits they owe the Rodney Parade faithful a big performance following their Connacht horror show.

A bumper crowd was left stunned when the in-form Dragons, who had won four from five, were sent crashing to a 27-19 home defeat by the Irish development province a fortnight ago.

They aim to get back on the horse against Treviso tomorrow evening by securing a win that would strengthen their grip on eighth place in the RaboDirect Pro12.

And the number 12 admits they are being motivated by the desire to right some wrongs on their return to Rodney Parade.

“The performance simply wasn't good enough against Connacht,” admitted Smith.

“There was nothing that we could take from that game.

“It was one of those games where from 1 to 15 we couldn't get into it and by the time we woke up it was too late and we had left ourselves too much to do.

“If we had played badly and scrambled the points then at least you could say 'a win's a win' but we were left with nothing.

“But that performance didn't deserve anything and we are determined to put that right against Treviso. We know that we need to put in a big performance for the fans.

“It was massively disappointing against Connacht but that's professional sport for you. If it was easy then it wouldn't be so great when you do win.”

The Dragons will be looking to avenge a 50-24 drubbing at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo when it was only a pair of late scores that prevented the scoreline looking even more ugly.

And Smith believes that Treviso performance shows that tomorrow's visitors are not just your stereotypical Italian one-dimensional bruisers.

“They went wide a lot and have exciting wingers and strong running centres,” said the inside centre, who is set to be paired with Adam Hughes when the Dragons officially name their team today.

“Treviso have two effective game plans – they have a big strong pack that can make life hell up front as well as the threat that they have out wide.

“They have had a pretty successful season and are improving year on year so there's no doubt that it's going to be a very tough game.”