KINGSLEY Jones says Newport Gwent Dragons need to have a 'hard look at themselves' after being outmuscled by Enisei in a crushing European Rugby Challenge Cup loss in Russia.

The Dragons were thrashed 38-18 in Krasnodar, shipping five tries in a loss that is a huge blow in their bid for qualification for a third season on the spin.

They opened the campaign with a bonus-point win against Brive in Newport and the French side responded with a 25-24 success at Worcester.

Had the Dragons won at Trud Stadium then it is likely that a pair of Rodney Parade wins would have sufficed for a place in the last eight but now they need to triumph in the West Midlands or France.

Enisei have proved themselves to be strong on home soil in the tournament and now have a Welsh scalp to go along with those of Worcester, Newcastle and Brive, but it was the manner of defeat that hurt Jones, who spent three years as coach of the Russian national team.

"Enisei played very well but our issue was that every time they came into our 22 they scored and that was because we failed to deal with their physicality and body height," said the head coach.

"They got down low and we didn't cope with that, which is frustrating because we talked about how strong Russians are in that area, while our kicking game was poor and we failed to take two restarts that led to tries.

"It wasn't a game played in the mud in Russia and there are no excuses. We need to have a hard look at ourselves and at what we are doing because that wasn't acceptable.

"It's not the end of the tournament for us but now we have to win our home games and get a win at Worcester or Brive.

"We have to break this game down and see where we are going wrong because we are not happy with the amount of defeats we've had this season. It's a long trip home then the Ospreys game on Saturday to try and put things right."

Captain Lewis Evans and his fellow back row forward Ed Jackson, scrum-half Sarel Pretorius, fly-half Nick Macleod are likely to return for Swansea after they didn't travel to Russia.

The Dragons have won just one of six Guinness Pro12 fixtures this season and are attempting to win a first league Welsh derby since a success in Cardiff on Boxing Day, 2014.