AFTER playing for nine years with the tag of underdogs it frustratingly seems that Newport Gwent Dragons are loathe to shake it off.

There was much to admire about their performance in defeat to Connacht last Sunday when they were more than good value for a losing bonus point despite playing for over an hour with 14 men.

Their spirited efforts ensured that they climbed above Cardiff Blues in the Guinness Pro12 table and there is no doubt that the region has made real progress since December. There is more shape and order to their play, they have a fairly settled XV and it seems to be a happy camp.

Yet questions remain about their ability to cope with the pressure of being favourites.

All of their best victories this season have been when unfancied away from Rodney Parade – Stade Francais, Newcastle, Cardiff Blues, Leinster – and they have been awful in Newport.

It's now seven defeats out of 12 fixtures on home turf with the Ospreys, Glasgow, Munster, Newcastle, Cardiff Blues, Exeter and Connacht all able to toast success in the away changing room.

When they upset the odds in Dublin head coach Kingsley Jones alluded to the Dragons being helped by their past record of failure.

"Teams tend to overplay a little against us," he said. "Leinster played a lot in their own half, going wide, wide, back and fore.

"They would have been thinking of us as a (four try) bonus point opportunity, which is normal because we are at the bottom end of the league and they are champions."

The Dragons thrived in that situation when few had given them hope but despite saying all the right things in the build-up to Connacht about needing to back up their Leinster success they looked uncomfortable in the opening exchanges.

Even before Rynard Landman had been red-carded they were sloppy, 10-3 down and lacking snap.

It was only once they had lost their captain and that they were in a no-lose situation – after all, how many teams win with 14 men for three quarters of a game? – that they really came out to play.

From 17-3 down they rallied, mixing determination with some savvy play, and won the 14 versus 15 battle 22-20.

It's easier said than done but the Dragons need to stop this attitude and thrive when the heat is on them because that will be the case for the rest of the campaign even though they aren't fighting for playoff spots or European Rugby Champions Cup rugby.

They are currently above Cardiff Blues in the Pro12 table and it will be demoralising if they tail off and are once again Wales' worst.

Last season the men from the Arms Park, under Phil Davies, were a rabble only for the Dragons to let them off the hook with a shocking second half of the season.

This time it appears to be the other way round with the Rodney Parade region starting to find their form in the run-in while the Blues, playing amid news of coach Mark Hammett's imminent departure, looked awful in defeat to Treviso last weekend.

Their shocking defence brought back horrible memories of that February evening in 2013 when Glasgow, without their Scotland internationals, ran in eight tries in a 60-3 win at Rodney Parade.

If a Cardiff Blues team in crisis can still finish above the Dragons then demoralising would be another kick in the gob (there have already been so many kicks that there are no teeth left).

The rest of the Dragons' fixtures this season in the Pro12, bar perhaps Munster away on final weekend, are eminently winnable yet those are the ones in which they have come up short this season.

It's time to start coping with great expectations.