NEWPORT Gwent Dragons head to Cork looking to avoid being put in a Munster headlock after being squeezed for the third game in succession by Gloucester.

The Dragons return to Guinness PRO12 action after a trio of defeats to Brive in the European Rugby Challenge Cup and Newcastle and the Cherry and Whites in the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

It is PRO12 action for the rest of the season with Kingsley Jones’ side in a ‘mini league’ with champions Connacht, who are two points ahead in eighth, and ninth-placed Edinburgh, who are above them on points difference.

The Dragons have a daunting block of fixtures that pits them against Connacht and a trio of title contenders in leaders Munster, Leinster and Glasgow, with the trip to Cork first up on Saturday (kick-off 7.35pm).

“Munster are a very efficient team who just do everything really well. It’s not rocket science what they do, they are just efficient at doing it,” said backs coach Shaun Connor.

“They are the team that others are striving towards and we will need to get out of our half as quickly as we can and then when in theirs we have to come alive.

“At Gloucester we showed towards the end of the game that we are a good rugby team when we try to spread the ball, so we need more of that.

“A lot of that is down to confidence and making sure we make the right decisions at the right time.

“Unfortunately we are still going through a learning process and trying to improve that decision-making, which people often just associate with half-backs but it’s much more than that now, it’s about everyone on the field.”

The Dragons are still hunting a first away win of the season after going down 24-13 at Gloucester despite a brace by lock Matthew Screech, the second a smart finish after a well-worked move in the closing stages.

Connor was left to lament a costly try conceded from a driving lineout on the brink of half-time when they were leading 3-0 and has demanded more discipline.

“It’s the same story,” said Connor. “There was lots of good in our game and then we just lost control of it in the last five minutes of the first half and for the first 10 minutes of the second.”To concede points at the end of the half and start of the half really hurt us. Similar to Newcastle, we are giving teams a lot of opportunities to maul at us and to be fair to Gloucester they did a pretty good job of it.

“That’s obviously something we need to work on but I also felt we had a few chances to exert a bit of pressure in their 22 through our maul and they defended it a little bit better than we did.”