NEWPORT Gwent Dragons captain Jason Forster warns his team of a backlash in tonight's Celtic League clash against champions the Ospreys at the New Stadium, Swansea.

The Ospreys were thrashed 37-10 by Munster in Cork on Saturday night, a result which Forster believes was the worst thing from a Dragons' point of view.

"That could easily work against us," he said. "They had a kick up the backside and I believe they had a crisis meeting afterwards, so they will want to put that right against us.

"They rested a few players, but they'll be disappointed and it makes it all the harder for us now."

But Forster remains upbeat about the Dragons chances, though they haven't beaten the Ospreys on their territory yet.

"We haven't got a good record down there, but we've had a break, we've worked on a lot of things to try to get it right and we hope to add to their misery," he said.

"There's a great buzz about the place and it's great if we're being written off again. Let the others do the worrying, but we'll be a match for anyone if we perform.

"If we play like we did in the first half against Glasgow we won't win and we can't afford to drop off even for 15 minutes, but we're building a strong team with a strong work ethic underpinning it. We are all working for the success of the region.

"We've had a difficult start to the league season with so many away games (three in a row), but if we pick up points on the road then our confidence will be massive."

The Ospreys have delayed finalising their team because of injury problems.

Already without their British Lions Gavin Henson, Shane Williams and Ryan Jones, they have doubts about Jonathan Thomas and James Bater while young centre Andrew Bishop badly damaged a knee against Munster.

But they should be strengthened by the return of props Adam and Duncan Jones and scrum half Jason Spice, held back from the Munster game for the Dragons clash.