‘It is great to see a number of players from both sides in the Welsh squad and is a reflection of the good start both teams have made in the Celtic League,’ said Chris Anderson.
Meanwhile The Ospreys coach Lynn Jones remains upbeat. ‘It is important that we immediately bounce back after Sunday’s defeat. Although we are without our current internationals on Friday evening it is an opportunity for players not involved recently to go out and perform.’
The Dragons have now won six of their last seven matches in all competitions after losing their nine month old winning home run with the narrow 6-10 loss to Newcastle in the Heineken Cup in dreadful conditions two weeks ago at Rodney Parade.
The Ospreys may have been brought back down to earth a little with successive European Cup losses to Castres and Munster but they have won their first seven Celtic League matches of the season.
The Ospreys only loss in their last six matches against fellow Welsh teams was 15-18 to the Scarlets in Swansea last May. The two clashes last season both went with home field advantage with the Dragons winning 29-19 at Rodney Parade and the Ospreys exacting revenge 26-14 at St Helen’s.
Dragons Squad: Kevin Morgan, Gareth Wyatt, Steve Winn, Jonathan Bryant, Nathan Brew, Sione Tuipulotu, Ben Breeze, Craig Warlow, Gareth Baber, Rod Snow, Adam Black, James Richards, Chris Anthony, Rhys Thomas, Ian Gough, Peter Sidoli, Jamie Ringer, Jason Forster (c), Richard Bryan
Replacements: From above plus Kieran Crawford, Rhys Oakley, James Ireland, AN Other
Ospreys Team: 15 Adrian Durston; 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 David Bishop, 12 Elvis Seveali’I, 11 Stefan Terblanche; 10 Matthew Jones, 9 Andy Williams; 8 Nathan Bonner-Evans, 7 Steve Tandy, 6 James Bater; 5 Lyndon Bateman, 4 Andrew Newman; 3 Andrew Millward, 2 Barry Williams (Captain), 1 Paul James
Replacements: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Luke Tait, 19 Richard Pugh, 20 Jason Spice, 21 Shaun Connor, 22 Dave Tiueti
