NEWPORT Gwent Dragons director of rugby Lyn Jones doesn't intend to settle for a best runner-up spot in the knockout stages of the European Rugby Challenge Cup – he wants to reel in Newcastle to earn a Rodney Parade quarter-final.

The Dragons avoided a banana skin in Bucharest on Saturday, running out 37-10 victors thanks to an excellent team performance in extremely challenging conditions at Ghencea Stadium.

The success leaves them three points back on Pool Three leaders Newcastle and two more wins would probably be enough to qualify for the last eight, something that the Dragons have achieved just once in their history.

However, if the Dragons can win against the Falcons in the north east in January and do the double over Stade Francais then they could also enjoy home advantage.

"We want to win our group and want to go through to the quarters in our own right," said Jones. "We are very confident that we can build on this win and beat Newcastle and Stade Francais.

"They are three games well within our reach and winning with such a strong performance in Bucharest bodes well. It's critical that we get another bonus-point win on Friday because we are playing towards rounds five and six.

"We played very well against Newcastle at Rodney Parade, stuffed them in fact, but didn't win on the scoreboard so need to go up there and do a job on them."

The Dragons entertain the Romanians on Friday before crunch encounters with Zebre and Cardiff Blues, home and away, in the Guinness Pro12.

Ten players have started the last three games and Jones has pledged that the management team will once again keep changes to a minimum against the Wolves.

He said: "We are trying to create a team and build confidence. It's not just about Bucharest on Friday, it's about Zebre and Cardiff Blues and building momentum.

"In our first two months of the season we were decimated by injuries and it's difficult to build any momentum when you have to keep on changing four or five players every week."

And the players that took to the field in Bucharest earned their boss' praise after fighting back from 10-0 down to run in five tries in testing conditions.

"We are very pleased with the performance and the result," said Jones. "It was -1C, very wet, very muddy and these games can be as hard or as simple as you want to make them.

"We came here with a very respectful attitude to our opposition and it was a job well done – 10 out of 10 for our players."