NEWPORT Gwent Dragons know they need to be squeaky clean if they are to avoid their European Rugby Challenge Cup hopes going up in smoke in Bucharest.

The Dragons have given themselves a shot at the quarter-finals by beating Stade Francais on their own patch but now they must win in the 'Paris of the east'.

The Romanians have a track record of being awkward opponents in Europe, especially at their Stadium Arcul de Triumf.

In October they were edged out 13-9 by Stade Francais, last season Brive and Newcastle sneaked 18-13 and 13-12 wins respectively, Agen lost 25-22 in 2012 while Worcester had a nervy 24-13 win in 2011.

There is no secret to their success – they will attempt to put the squeeze on with their meaty pack.

"Bucharest have got a big scrum and driving maul," said lock/back row Andrew Coombs. "They pride themselves on the set piece and like to play to get penalties that they kick to the corner to get it going.

"They've got a back who plays 10 or 12 (Florin Vlaicu) and he's got a long kick and will try to pin us into our corner, so we have spoken all week about our discipline.

"The one area where we were weak against Glasgow on Sunday (when beaten 19-15) was the scrum, so it's up to us up front to work hard."

It has been a frustrating month for Coombs, who tore his left calf when taken out at a lineout in the opening minutes of the Paris win and then suffered an ankle problem on his comeback against Harlequins in the LV= Cup last month.

He made his return off the bench against the Warriors and is in the running to replace acting captain Rynard Landman after the lock suffered a concussion in the first quarter in Scotland.

"It's a big month and it's really important that we find our form now," said Coombs. "We showed that we can be a good team by going to Glasgow and challenging them right until the end.

"It's now about replicating that performance and we have got to get back on track against Bucharest after letting ourselves down against Newcastle the week after doing the hard work against Stade Francais.

"This is a fantastic tournament and we really want to get out of this group to test ourselves against the big teams who qualify for the quarter-finals."

Group leaders Newcastle welcome Stade Francais to Kingston Park this evening.