QUALIFICATION may be a long shot but Wales hooker Elliot Dee says there is no chance of the Dragons lacking motivation for the Challenge Cup clash with Bordeaux-Begles on Saturday.

The Rodney Parade region entertain the Frenchmen in their final Pool One fixture with the slimmest of hopes of sneaking into second spot behind Newcastle.

They need to win with a four-try bonus and deny Bordeaux, who won 36-28 at the Stade Chaban-Delmas last weekend, anything at all. Even then they are left needing other results to go their way but Dee says qualification isn’t the only thing that will fire up the Dragons.

“The motivation is that we could have quite easily put that game away in the first half,” said the front rower after the loss in France, which the Dragons led 16-8 at the break.

“We have always got something to play for and we’ve got to improve week on week. A win at home would show some improvement.

“That was certainly better than the previous week (against the Scarlets) - our line speed was good in defence, we broke the line in attack but we just need to finish.

“There is no question about motivation – every time you get the chance to wear the jersey you should be fully motivated to go out there and get the win.

“We’ve got to look to get some results and there is a perception that we accept defeat. There is always motivation to play and I am certainly proud when I put on the Dragons jersey and will give it my all.”

If the Dragons are to beat Bordeaux with a bonus point then Dee says they need to show more of a cutting edge than they did in the west of France.

Flanker James Benjamin, scrum-half Sarel Pretorius and full-back Carl Meyer scored tries but other opportunities went begging.

“We got off to a pretty good start and were quite dominant up front in the first 20 minutes when we knew that they were going to come at us.

“We dealt with that pretty well but weren’t clinical enough – there were chances in that first half to score three or four tries and we didn’t finish.

“We could have put Bordeaux away but the crowd can get on your back when you don’t take those opportunities. We had a few young boys experiencing playing in France for the first time and I think the occasion got on top of us a bit.

“We showed some good intent but execution was poor. In the second half there was a bit of chaos and they got their tails up.”

The Dragons head into the fixture with a similar squad, hindered by a list of injuries that has deprived them of likely starters Zane Kirchner, Hallam Amos, Tyler Morgan, Brok Harris, Leon Brown, Harrison Keddie, Ollie Griffiths and Lewis Evans.

“We’ve got an issue with the amount of injuries in the squad but it’s just the hand that we’ve been dealt and we’ve got to stick together and push through it,” said Dee.

“We will be stronger for it, there’s a long-term plan and we’ve seen some glimpses of improvement already. We will push on when we get to the other side.”

The Dragons will assess bumps to wing Ashton Hewitt and flanker James Benjamin before selecting their side at midday on Friday.