The Dragons know that their Amlin Challenge Cup campaign will definitely be over after the Round 6 encounter at Rodney Parade regardless of the result but Edwards insist there is still plenty to play for.
A winless run of five games needs to be ended sooner rather than later and Edwards sees tonight as the perfect chance to build some momentum ahead of the RaboDirect run in.
“This game matters for us and it’s about building momentum because we have some players in good form and want that to continue,” Edwards told the South Wales Argus.
“We may not have got the wins but out of our four games in a short space of time there were three brilliant performances.
“We should have won at the Blues, while the Ospreys game went on small margins and Dan Biggar was the difference.
“We fell off the horse in Connacht but, after a gruelling travel week, were excellent in Bayonne.
“I desperately wanted to be able to pat them on the back and say ‘good win’ last week but we just need to get over that hurdle.
“These players have had some tough times but they are a pleasure to coach and their attitude is superb. Don’t worry about our motivation tonight.”
The Dragons fell agonizingly short of a big success story in France last week as a Mike Phillips try robbed them of a famous win against Bayonne at the death.
A whole host of Welsh internationals will look to follow Phillips’ lead in getting one over the Dragons tonight, with Wasps director of rugby Dai Young joined by assistant coach Shane Howarth, fly-half Nicky Robinson and replacements Rhys Thomas and Stephen Jones.
“We had the curse of the Welshman last week, hopefully we won’t have the same again!” added Edwards.
“But I’m under no illusion that we are going to blind side Dai: they will not be complacent and are fully aware of the challenge ahead of them and what they will get at Rodney Parade.”
