COACH Paul Turner warns Newport Gwent Dragons to be more alert when they visit English champions and former Heineken Cup winners Wasps in a crucial EDF Energy Cup-tie on Sunday.

The Dragons have to go to Adams Park and beat formidable opponents with a bonus point and then hope Gloucester lose at Newcastle in the other final pool match, which also kicks off at 3pm on Sunday.

So it’s a huge ask for the Dragons, and they will take it on with Turner telling them: “We will have to be more alert because we got caught by Gloucester runners Iain Balshaw and Lesley Vainikolo at Kingsholm last week.

“We have got to combat the Wasps power and show that we can play,” - something the Dragons did against Gloucester when they were only one try short of achieving a bonus point.

Wasps will present a different kind of challenge from those at Bath and Gloucester with their raw power, even if they have made a disappointing start to the season in the league.

“They have got a powerful squad and they usually come back with a bang later in the season,” said Turner. “Any side who can win the European Cup has got to be strong. Their approach will be different, if anything, because they are power based. They have also got other tricks up their sleeve with quality players behind the scrum and they can punish you.

“But we matched them in the rain at Rodney Parade last season and should have won. We also let slip what should have been a victory at Kingsholm last week, though I’m pleased with our progress as a squad.

“We can start going to these places as a squad and perform, I’m really disappointed for the players that they didn’t make it last week.

“The incentive on Sunday is to go there searching for a win, though it’s going to be difficult. Overall the Premiership is a physical and improving league, the recruitment shows that, as a lot of internationals from all over the world play in it.”

Turner will again use the underdogs card as a motivating tool for the Dragons who have performed above the expectations of many at English strongholds Bath and Gloucester in successive weeks. Now comes a third.

“The Premiership is probably the biggest league in the world. We’re going there to give a good account of ourselves, we’re always good when we’ve got something to prove and people write us off,” he said.