ROB Andrew, the Newcastle director of rugby and former England ace, has dismissed his team's chances of beating Newport Gwent Dragons in their Heineken Cup clash at Rodney Parade on Saturday.

Andrew insists that if Newcastle play the way they have been playing in the past few weeks and the Dragons repeat their form, Newcastle will lose.

He believes that despite Jonny Wilkinson, whose last minute dropped goal secured a draw against Saracens yesterday, Australian World Cup star Matthew Burke and ex-Wales captain Colin Charvis being in the Newcastle team.

Whereas the Dragons have won their last five matches, Newcastle lost three in a row before being held to a draw at home yesterday.

"We have fallen away badly in the last few weeks and if we play like we have at Newport there's not much point in us turning up," said Andrew after watching the Dragons' least effective performance in their winning run against Borders at Galashiels on Friday night.

He even refused to take that stumbling display into account. "I shan't be taking any notice of it, I'll pretend I wasn't watching, what with the conditions and the whole thing," he said.

"The Dragons have been outstanding and Rodney Parade is always a tough place to play.

"They are a strong all-round side, good up front, sharp behind and they also defend well. They've got a bit of pace, their set piece is going well and they look a very good side.

"Our biggest problem is that we've leaked too many points even if we've been scoring a lot of points as well."

Andrew says new England captain Wilkinson needs a run of games after being out for so long with a damaged arm while praising the efforts of Charvis.

"Jonny is now six games into it and he needs to play. When you've been out for eight months that's even more important," he said.

"Colin has been going very well and I'm very pleased with his contribution.

"But we are very wary of the Dragons. If they play like they have in the last few weeks we'll lose, there's no question of that."

When I suggested that was typical director of rugbyspeak, talking the opposition up before a big game to deflect pressure, Andrew replied, "Not at all."

Dragons and Wales forward Michael Owen goes for more tests today on his injured back amid reports the damage may not be as bad as initially feared.

He had a scan on Friday, the results of which were quite encouraging, and there is now hope he won't be out for anything like as long as first predicted.

Owen suffered the injury as a result of weight training with the Wales squad.