NEWPORT Gwent Drag-ons captain Jason Forster is convinced they can get out of trouble near the foot of the Celtic League table.

The Dragons leapfrogged the Ospreys into ninth place when they beat their Welsh rivals at Rodney Parade on New Year's Day, now they need to do the same against Connacht tomorrow to further close the gap on the teams above them.

"There's always been a good, strong resolve here, there's never been any doubt about that," said Forster.

"When difficult times arrive it shows the character in a side and you find out a lot about one another. The boys have pulled together well, it's been fantastic and no stone has been left unturned.

"We have got experienced international players here, we know we're not a bad team, we're too good to be where we are and we'll give our all to have a mighty push to get up there.

"We can get out of this. Of course we don't want to be the fourth Welsh team, but pressure does funny things to you, just look at Arsenal a couple of years ago when no-one could beat them and look at them now.

"We have scored some of the best tries in the Celtic League and in Europe this season. And we could have beaten Ulster at home and Edinburgh away, there's a fine line between success and failure.

"We have let ourselves down with silly mistakes, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. It's not all doom and gloom and there is a belief here.

"When you lose players of the calibre of Kevin Morgan and Gareth Wyatt it leaves a huge void, but it's a test of the youngsters you have and players like Gareth Chapman and Richard Fussell haven't looked out of place."

Forster is still expecting a tough game from Connacht tomorrow night when the Dragons aim for their first victory over Irish opposition this season having lost to Munster twice in the Heineken Cup and Leinster and Ulster in the league.

"People don't rate them, but they've got points to prove every week and they will want to prove them wrong. They will want to come out fighting and they'll be a dangerous team," he predicted.

"They've got a big, heavy pack and they play some good rugby so we'll have to be on our mettle.

"We are just looking for some consistency and we need to string a few wins together.

Beating the Ospreys was a huge weight off our shoulders, let's not undo all that we gained then."