RICHIE Rees has called on Newport Gwent Dragons to start digging themselves out of a hole by starting a mammoth month with a bang in Glasgow tomorrow afternoon, writes Chris Kirwan.

The Rodney Parade region head to Scotstoun Stadium in the Guinness Pro12 on the back of a demoralising 38-12 home defeat to Munster in which the Irish province turned around a 9-7 half-time deficit.

The Dragons need to show signs of improvement to avoid a hammering at the hands of the title-chasing Warriors and to produce a performance to boost confidence for a run of eminently winnable December dates.

Lyn Jones men face Bucharest in a European Rugby Challenge Cup double header and then go up against fellow strugglers Zebre and Cardiff Blues (twice) in the Pro12.

“It’s not just the performance against Munster that was bad, we are in a bit of a hole,” said scrum-half Rees. “There are a number of facets of our game that aren’t where they should be – our gain line, kicking, basic skills.

“There’s only one way to do it and that’s keep going and hopefully come out the other end.

“It’s a massive month for us. We have wiped the slate clean after a good honest team meeting where we put a few things to rest.

“We’ve got Glasgow then games we should be winning against Bucharest twice, Zebre and Cardiff Blues twice. It’s about being positive now and hopefully can come away with some points.”

The five fixtures that follow the Warriors appear more winnable but the Dragons are not writing this weekend’s game off before they’ve even travelled north.

Last season they upset the odds 23-8 when fly-half Jason Tovey scored a full house of a try, two conversions, two penalties and a drop goal.

“We beat them up there last season when nobody expected anything of us and controlled the game quite well,” said Rees.

“Glasgow are a strong side but we just have to concentrate on doing our own job; putting people in the right place at the right time, stripping things back and doing the simple things well.”