NEWPORT Gwent Dragons will use the pain of a last-gasp loss in Belfast to show that it’s not mission impossible in their Guinness Pro12 opener against Ulster this evening.

The Dragons are underdogs for the curtain-raiser at Kingspan Stadium (kick-off 7.35pm) against hosts who are expected to be in the title mix.

Kingsley Jones’ side have lost their last 10 games in the Pro12 and failed to record a single league success away from Rodney Parade in 2015/16.

But in February they were just over a minute away from only a second ever win in Belfast only for Ireland fly-half Paddy Jackson to break their hearts with a penalty at the death for a 17-15 victory.

“It was a tough one for us because they were at the top of the table and we were struggling for form,” said number eight Ed Jackson.

“We said before the game that we would just chuck everything at them and that we had nothing to lose. They snuck it at the end and it is still sore for the boys, but we are using that this week.

“It’s not a case of ‘we owe them one’ because it’s not their fault we had two yellow cards but it’s more giving us the confidence that we can go to Ravenhill and put in a big performance, we won’t stand off them and will try to impose our game on them.”

Ulster boast a strong squad and will field a formidable back line that features All Black Charles Piutau, Springbok Ruan Pienaar and homegrown talent Stuart Olding, Craig Gilroy and Stuart McCloskey, although the absence of several Ireland internationals and a tighthead injury crisis provides hope of an away win.

And Jackson believes a big challenge is the perfect way for the Dragons to kick off a campaign that sees them trying to

“It’s a tough place to go but you never have to get yourself up for it because Ravenhill is always sold-out with a great atmosphere,” he said.

“You need these challenges early on in a season to find out where you are and it’s better to have a hard, fast start than a slow build-up.”

He continued: “We are going to play more expansive rugby this season but we also have a bigger emphasis on our pack. Set piece is very important for us because we need a platform to play from.

“We want to play some entertaining rugby, we want to throw the ball around and be a team that people want to watch.

“We’ve got some experienced boys in the back line to go with the very good young talent, giving more direction and making right decisions about when to chuck it about and when to keep it tight.”

Team news on page 37