CAPTAIN Rhys Thomas admits Newport Gwent Dragons would love a game on Friday to get a spluttering display out of their system.

The Dragons returned to training yesterday after their drab 13-0 Guinness Pro12 victory against Zebre at Rodney Parade.

They scored just one try, with Ed Jackson powering over from a driving lineout, and botched a host of opportunities.

However, former Wales hooker Thomas says there is no point in sulking during a three-week break until their October 3 encounter against Leinster at the Royal Dublin Society.

"Zebre was a very frustrating game," said Thomas. "We wanted to finish on a positive (before the break) and we didn't do that. Even when we scored it was an old school try.

"A win is a win... but that's it. It's done and dusted, a lot of us had a few sleepless nights on the weekend but we can either feel sorry for ourselves or return, have a look at it and work hard.

"We'd like another game on Friday, let's be honest, but we've got Leinster in a few weeks and we did the double on them last year.

"We'll do our homework and put the things that we did wrong, especially keeping hold of the ball in the 22, right."

Director of rugby Lyn Jones lamented the way that his side failed to keep the scoreboard ticking along to make Zebre heads drop and Thomas said it was their poor ball retention that kept the Italians, who were on the back of a 61-13 hammering in the capital, interested.

"I have played the game long enough to know that they weren't going to roll over after the way that they played against Cardiff Blues," said the hooker.

"They were down in Newport all week without any distractions and I knew it was going to be close after 40 minutes but not as close as that (at the end).

"A lot of passages of play we got to the end product and tried to force things and against teams like Zebre, and I don't mean this disrespectfully, you cause them problems if you keep the ball for five or six phases. We didn't do that.

"When you are captain you take it all personally and it was frustrating. But I said to the boys, you can either feel sorry for yourselves or get on with it."