COACH Ceri Jones has called on the Dragons bench to rise to their boss’ challenge and finish the job against Connacht in the Guinness PRO14 this evening.

The Rodney Parade region are attempting to end a 14-game losing streak when they entertain the Irish province in Newport (kick-off 7.30pm).

The Dragons have kicked off the season with a home defeat to title favourites Leinster and a loss to Edinburgh at Myreside.

After the 35-18 reverse in Scotland last Friday, head coach Bernard Jackman slammed the performance of his replacements, stating that “the bench gave us negative impact”.

The Irishman threatened to leave his starting XV on unless he starts getting more oomph from numbers 16 to 23 and he has made changes for this evening’s clash.

He can call on a pair of hard-carrying, imposing forwards in back rower Robson Blake and hooker Gerard Ellis, who is set for a debut after his summer move from London Irish, while Dorian Jones makes a first appearance as fly-half cover.

The bench is completed by props Thomas Davies and Lloyd Fairbrother, lock Matthew Screech and two youngsters in scrum-half Owain Leonard and wing Jared Rosser.

Forwards coach Jones has warned the subs that they need to help close out the game to end the nightmare losing streak.

“If you look at our games Bernard was absolutely right. The impact our bench has had hasn’t been what we have wanted,” said the former prop.

“It’s as simple as that and we need the guys that come on to give us a lift and a real boost and give us that energy and something extra.

“In our games so far that hasn’t been the case. At times there have been combinations that haven’t quite clicked and it’s up to those players that come on to be on the money.”

The Dragons haven’t won in any competition since beating Enisei-STM in the European Rugby Challenge Cup on January 13.

If they fail to repeat last year’s home success against Connacht then they will claim an unwanted regional record of 12 straight PRO14 defeats on the bounce.

The Irish province are also under a new regime after Kieran Keane replaced Pat Lam following his departure for big-spending Bristol.

They have started with a narrow loss to Glasgow and comprehensive win against the Southern Kings and Jones believes the new boss hasn’t changed the high-octane style that earned the shock title triumph in 2016.

“Connacht are looking to play a very expansive game. They don’t like to kick the ball and like to play from everywhere – ball-in-play time is huge against them,” he said.

“They had a good result last week and were decent up front against the Kings, so we are expecting a big challenge.

“But we are moving in the right direction and for 70 minutes we were in it against a good Edinburgh side. Our attacking shape is coming on well but we need to cut down on unforced errors.

“The players are working incredibly hard and they deserve the reward of a win, but we know we have to work for it and are under no illusions about how good Connacht are.”

l Team news on page 37