JOSH Matavesi has urged his Newcastle teammates to stay calm in the Rodney Parade cauldron against the Dragons in the European Challenge Cup tomorrow night.

The former Ospreys centre returns to Wales with the Falcons for a crunch clash in Pool One of the competition.

The Aviva Premiership side currently lead the way with three wins from three and already have a foot in the quarter-finals given they have a January double-header with Enisei-STM to come.

If they can keep their perfect record before they lock horns with the Russians then Newcastle will not only be looking good for the last eight but they will be on the brink of Pool One top spot and a Kingston Park tie in the quarters.

Matavesi has played against the Dragons in Newport three times and won every time – 10-0 on New Year’s Day, 26-20 in April, 2016 and 17-15 in September, 2014.

The tight nature of those tussles means there is no danger of the Fijian taking anything for granted.

“I’ve experienced Rodney Parade quite a few times with the Ospreys and it’s a tough place to play,” said the 27-year-old, who made 79 appearances for the Liberty Stadium side.

“They really make a big thing of their home games, the crowd are right on top of you and if they’ve been on the beers they’ll let you know what they think of you.

“It’s not a very nice to go and play on a Friday night because they’re a good side and their fans really get involved, and we’re absolutely not taking them lightly.

“Their coach Bernard Jackman has made no bones about the fact they will target their home games, we’re expecting a huge test down there but it’s all about staying composed and being ruthless in terms of how we execute our game plan.

“We’ve got the ability to come away with something if we can do that but they’ve got a lot of dangerous players.

“Hallam Amos out wide and guys like Ashton Hewitt are electric, but for us it’s about containing them and letting our own guys loose.

“There’s a really healthy competition within our squad which is pushing the guys on, and whoever comes in we know they will do the job.”

Matavesi heads to Newport in fine form having scored a try in a man-of-the-match display against Northampton before crossing for the eighth and final try in the 52-24 romp against Bordeaux-Begles in the north east.

“It was really enjoyable getting the five points last weekend, and it all came down to executing the game plan,” said the Fijian.

“Our analysts and coaches did a great job during the week, and even though some of the tries might have stemmed from individual line-breaks or pieces of skill what you have to remember is that we’d been working the previous three or four phases to set up that play, to work a defensive mismatch or isolate a weaker defender in a position where we knew we could strike.

“People need to realise that we’re a good team, even when we’re without some of our Premiership regulars.

“We’ve got a roster in excess of 55 guys, full of good players, and it wasn’t surprising in the least to us that we achieved that result against Bordeaux.

“It was a good Bordeaux side but I don’t think they respected us enough, and they got what was coming to them.”

The other Pool One fixture sees Enisei-STM head to the Stade Chaban-Delmas on Friday night to face a Bordeaux side who have six points from their three fixtures.