BOSS Bernard Jackman wants his Dragons side to build towards ending their Guinness PRO14 hoodoo on the road after making just three changes for the daunting clash with champions Leinster.

Few are giving the Rodney Parade region any hope of triumphing at the Royal Dublin Society (kick-off 5.15pm) but head coach Jackman believes his team can upset the odds and wants to see some fight at the very least.

The Dragons endured three hammerings in Ireland against Leinster, Munster and Ulster last season while they have not won away from Newport in the PRO14 since March, 2015 – a nightmare 33-game streak.

They have travelled to the capital with confidence boosted by last week’s 27-22 triumph against Southern Kings, a first league win since last September, and the boss wants a strong display ahead of next weekend’s must-win home encounter with Zebre.

“We need to win away from home ASAP. The way to do that is to build up some confidence away from home,” said former Ireland hooker Jackman.

“You don’t get that by losing by 35-40 points and by not being in the game. The big thing will be to finish the game having fixed the things that were poor against the Kings and really be in the contest, getting that feeling that when we add a little bit more we can win away from home.

“Leinster are a quality side and we know that we will have to put in a hell of a performance to get the win.”

Jackman has resisted the temptation to tinker with his squad to keep them fresh for Zebre, making just three changes.

Openside Nic Cudd makes his first appearance of the season, Adam Warren replaces injured centre Tyler Morgan and Lloyd Fairbrother gets the nod at tighthead ahead of Leon Brown, who is on the bench after being troubled by a shoulder injury early in the week.

“We want this group to gel now. We were disappointed with a lot of aspects of our game against the Kings and the best place to fix them is out on the field,” he said.

“Going to Dublin you are going to be tested and we want that game time together and have a crack at them to get ourselves ready for a long season. It’s getting those systems in place that we lacked a little bit against the Kings.”

The Dragons won against the Kings but made hard work of it, letting a 17-0 lead slip to be level-pegging going into the final quarter.

“Everybody was disappointed on Monday because we knew that it was a game that we should have killed off,” said the coach. “Having said that, it’s so much nicer to be fixing the errors having won.

“Last year potentially the group would have celebrated just any win whereas this group have a different objective and see themselves as better than that.

“They are keen to get that growth as soon as possible so it’s a good sign that we are being very harsh on ourselves even though we won, knowing that there are a hell of a lot of things we need to fix quickly.

“The only good thing about the Kings game becoming tight was that we managed to win it; it wasn’t nice to be experiencing it but we know that once this season we have got into a battle and found a way to win.”

Leinster: R Kearney, J Larmour, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, D Kearney, J Sexton (captain), J Gibson-Park, E Byrne, S Cronin, A Porter, S Fardy, J Ryan, M Deegan, J van der Flier, J Conan. Replacements: B Byrne, P Dooley, T Furlong, R Molony, C Doris, H O’Sullivan, N Reid, J Tomane.

Dragons: J Williams, D Howells, A Warren, J Dixon, H Amos, J Lewis, R Williams, B Harris, E Dee, L Fairbrother, M Screech, C Hill (captain), A Wainwright, N Cudd, R Moriarty. Replacements: R Hibbard, R Bevington, L Brown, B Nansen, O Griffiths, T Knoyle, A Robson, J Sage.

Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)