JASON Tovey hopes to reap the benefits of hours of practice at Waunfawr Park as he chases down the Newport Gwent Dragons points record.

The 24-year-old fly-half returned home to Rodney Parade this summer after an ill-fated season with Cardiff Blues.

It means that over the course of the coming season he should become the region's leading points scorer, moving his tally of 561 beyond Ceri Sweeney's 570.

Tovey proved to be deadly with the boot in the pre-season friendly win against Bath, striking a perfect four from four in the 22-20 success.

If he can repeat the trick in Friday's RaboDirect Pro12 opener against Ulster then it will partly down to some extras done in Cross Keys.

"In the off season I was working hard on my kicking with my dad, going locally," he said. "We take the dogs down and have a kickabout.

"He's my slave really, I kick them and he chases them! It paid off against Bath and it was nice to get all four.

"A few people asked me about the record after Bath but friendlies don't count, hopefully I'll have the chance in couple of weeks and can get it then."

Tovey started at fly-half in the friendly before moving to full-back to give game time to former Italy international Kris Burton.

With Steffan Jones also on the region's books, versatility could be a blessing for Tovey, who put the boot into the Dragons with an accomplished derby display while wearing 15 on his back at Cardiff Arms Park last season.

"If there are injuries at 15 then I am happy to fit in there but my main focus is going for the start at 10 with Kris and Steff," he said.

"We've all be pushing each other in training, although unfortunately Steff is out for a while (with a dislocated left elbow).

"It was good to get back out on the field against Bath and put what we have been working on into practice.

"We got a good result but didn't go overboard because there were a lot of work-ons from the performance as well as the positives.

"Our defence was the most pleasing thing – we've almost had five weeks flat-out defence and it really showed out there.

"We've worked hard in training and will keep doing that so that we are in good shape for Ulster."