HEAD coach Bernard Jackman says the Dragons must handle the pressure they have put themselves under in a huge game against Edinburgh after being hammered at Connacht.

The Rodney Parade region suffered a 33-12 humbling in the Galway to see their away losing streak in the Guinness PRO14 stretch to 37 games.

The Dragons matched their 2017/18 tally of two wins with victories against Southern Kings and Zebre in September but have since lost to Cardiff Blues in Newport and at Ulster and Connacht.

They have shipped 33 tries in eight games and have a break from league action before preparing for a vital clash against Edinburgh at Rodney Parade on Sunday, November 25.

The heat is on Jackman and the Dragons desperately need to provide some cheer for their long-suffering supporters against the Scots.

“We’ve got to make it better. The pressure is there all the time and we’ve just got to stick together, make sure the environment is right and then eventually we will get it right,” said Jackman, who has won four of 29 PRO14 games since taking over from Kingsley Jones.

“Edinburgh is a big game, a huge game, and we have to be able to handle that. Throughout the course of the season there are always big games and by not getting a win over the past two weeks we’ve ramped up the pressure on ourselves and we have to be able to deal with it. Simple.

“I am confident that we will get it right and when we do it will just flow. Getting it right is the hard part, getting that one big performance.

“Some of our basic skills leave a lot to be desired and we have to focus on that.”

The Dragons wasted some early chances in Galway and folded as Connacht scored four tries in the second quarter to ease to a bonus point win.

“To have a wind in the first half and be that far behind was a very difficult situation,” said Jackman.

“At half-time we spoke about how important it was to show character, because that game could have gone out of control if we had dropped our heads given the way that Connacht were attacking.

“It could have been even worse than it was, so I have to give credit to the leaders in the team that they rallied.

“We were much better in the second half but we are incredibly disappointed with the first half. We compounded errors and didn’t have enough composure around our set piece or breakdown work to play the game in Connacht’s half.

“Unfortunately we are giving away tries too easily, that’s what is costing us and we have got to fix that.”

Jackman insists that the Dragons have made strides since last season but acknowledged that defence is a serious cause for concern.

“I can see improvement. There are a couple of key components of our game that we need to fix, namely the defence and the kicking game,” he said.

“Unless we fix them we won’t win away from home, and we won’t win at home. November has come at a good time for us, we have a week off to refresh and recharge.

“There are two massive weeks before we play Edinburgh in terms of cutting out the mistakes that we made.

“We felt Ulster was a good marker for us and the boys got confidence from it, but we still conceded very soft tries in Ulster as well.

“You can’t go away from home, concede five or six tries and win, or be competitive. It’s not going to happen.

“That is the focus for November, to shore up our defence and make teams work for their tries.”