BACKS coach Shaun Connor expects Newport Gwent Dragons to flourish against 'powerhouse' Leicester rather than go into their shells when they take to the field at Welford Road this afternoon, writes Chris Kirwan.

The Dragons kick off their Anglo-Welsh Cup campaign in the East Midlands (kick-off 3pm) before welcoming the Scarlets to Rodney Parade on Friday.

The tournament provides a break from the rigours of the Guinness Pro12 and Europe but head coach Kingsley Jones has still plumped for a strong side, with 14 of his starters having already featured this season.

It may only be the Anglo-Welsh Cup but it is likely that the Dragons will play in front of their biggest crowd of the season, eclipsing the 13,789 that watched their league opener at Ulster, and Connor wants his charges to embrace the challenge.

"It's a great competition and one that I've been lucky enough to win," said the former fly-half, who was with the Ospreys when they beat Leicester at Twickenham in 2008 to avenge a loss to the Tigers in the previous year's final.

"A lot of these guys won't have been to Welford Road and Leicester are historically a powerhouse of English rugby. We are not daunted by the challenge, we are excited by it and we are going there to have a crack at them.

"It's about going there and not freezing. We are going to go with Leicester with attacking intent and hopefully our performance will be good enough to get us a positive result.

"Leicester have tried to change the way they play a little bit in recent seasons but still have that big pack and the power game. It's going to be a tough challenge."

The Dragons have rested a number of seasoned campaigners after heavy recent workloads but still boast plenty of regional experience in their XV while six players could make their debuts off the bench.

The demand from the coaching team is to be given some selection headaches for the Pro12 following last week's excellent 21-16 win against champions Connacht.

"It's about momentum and there was lots of good from the Connacht game," said Connor. "We took a massive step forward and if we go backwards against Leicester it counts for nothing, so we have to keep showing signs of improvement."

Team news on page 38