AFTER sitting out last weekend’s loss to Harlequins in our LV= Cup opener I’m back in the starting line-up for tonight game against the Ospreys in Bridgend.

I’ve played most of my rugby at blindside flanker this season but it’ll be number eight at the Brewery Field, a position that I haven’t played since the pre-season friendly at Lydney because Taulupe Faletau and Andy Powell have shared the game time.

It will require a slightly different approach. There’s more ball-carrying and work in the back field and the key is getting the right balance in the back row, something that hopefully me, James Thomas and James Benjamin can provide.

I was surprised to learn that it’s my 150th appearance for the Dragons. To be honest we deal more in starts than appearances but there’s always some pride in hitting such landmarks, although Steve Jones’ record of 180 is still some way off.

We could so easily have been heading to Bridgend on the back of another fantastic away win.

We enjoyed a great success against Stade Francais in the European Rugby Challenge Cup in Paris and things looked good when the boys led 21-8 at the Twickenham Stoop last Friday.

After heading to London to support the team from the sidelines with some other members of the squad while we rested the odd bump or two, I hoped we’d be able to congratulate the team on another superb victory.

Sadly Quins turned it around the second half and took the spoils 31-21, leaving us to regret letting another great opportunity slip through our fingers but there was still plenty of good in our game.

I have said in the past about getting in a winning habit and we just haven’t been used to being in the lead.

It is a completely different mindset as you go into the final moments and when you are on a good run you just seem to close games out.

Wales have struggled to get over the line against Australia in recent years and perhaps it’s been the same for us recently.

Every side has their ‘if only’ moments but the start of our season could have been a lot different had we sneaked tight games with Connacht and the Ospreys in the first two rounds of the Guinness Pro12.

But the confidence to edge tight games will hopefully come when we turn the corner and start to benefit from having a stronger squad once our unbelievable injury crisis clears.

It’s important to realise that we have lost some of our big experienced players and had to replace them with some boys fresh out of the academy.

The injury problems have shaped our coaches’ approach to the LV= Cup, which is usually a time to rest players and rotate the squad, giving opportunities to the young talent.

Because we are low on numbers there were a few familiar faces involved at Harlequins and the same will be the case tonight, with me, Rynard Landman, Ashley Smith and Boris Stankovich returning while hooker Elliot Dee has played every game..

The game against the Ospreys at the Brewery Field is an important one and a win would be the perfect way to lead into an important run of fixtures leading up to the back-to-back festive derbies against Cardiff Blues.

Last week gave me the chance to visit a few friends in London and it was great to get out of the ‘Newport bubble’ to recharge the batteries ahead of a key period in our season.

A group of us also attended a great workshop by Skills Group Wales, former Dragons centre Nathan Brew’s company, with the aim of developing business skills for when it’s time to hang up the boots.

But for now it’s back to business on the pitch; Munster head to Rodney Parade in a week’s time and it’d be great to be going into that game with that winning feeling.