LYN Jones believes Newport Gwent Dragons enjoyed the perfect road test for Friday's crucial encounter with Munster by overpowering the Ospreys in the LV= Cup.

The Dragons desperately need to take the spoils when they welcome the Irish province to Rodney Parade in the Guinness Pro12 (kick-off 7.30pm).

They have won just one of seven league fixtures and only the two Italian clubs are beneath them in the table.

But the Dragons warmed up for the fixture by ending a three-game losing streak in remarkable style against the Ospreys in the LV= Cup.

They won 51-35 with their much-improved tight five pushing their inexperienced Ospreys counterparts around the Brewery Field.

It was 48-0 early in the second half before the benches were emptied and the hosts made the scoreboard more flattering.

"This had to be a dress rehearsal for Munster at home," said Jones. "Our tactics paid dividends, we were very accurate in the first half and our error count was extremely low.

"It was a really good performance and we will be a little bit more confident for Munster. We pulled together, played as units and as a team and we were very effective in what we did.

"It's good to have Tyler Morgan, Ashley Smith, Ross Wardle and Cory Hill back from injury and it's no accident that when you get your best players back you play better as a team."

One worry from the win was a knee injury sustained by loosehead Boris Stankovich in the early exchanges with Jones declaring, "it could be one week, it could be eight".

Ian Gough already faces another month out after undergoing a clean out shoulder operation, although the region has been boosted by the return from injury of his fellow locks Andrew Coombs, Cory Hill and Joe Davies.

Jones was delighted with the display of his pack but acknowledged it won't be as easy against Munster.

He said: "On Friday we will have few chances and they will be sterner opposition, so we will just have to fight harder because we will get rewarded less.

"Munster have a very strong side, as we saw at Cardiff Arms Park two weeks ago (when they won 28-24), and they will be very competitive.

"Teams like Munster, the Ospreys, Leinster and Glasgow understand how the Celtic League fixture list draws out over a year and prepare well in advance with a good backbone of overseas players to carry them through these periods."

Ospreys coach Gruff Rees was left fuming by his side's display, labelling the first half as "cringe worthy".

"We allowed their first-choice front five to dominate and we conceded three of the softest tries you'll ever see from driving lineouts," he said.

Rees accepted that the Ospreys had improved in the second half but admitted the Dragons had relaxed.

"They took off a number of their experienced forwards, which allowed us to get some field position and settle but there were some positives," he said. "However we don't have enough strength in depth."