DRAGONS boss Bernard Jackman is relieved to be heading back to Newport, believing a December at Rodney Parade will boost his side’s flagging confidence.

The region endured a 54-10 hammering at Leinster in the Guinness PRO14, bringing to an end a draining run of games on the road.

They have played just once on home soil since September, against the Scarlets in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, and have taken to the field in Cardiff, Newcastle, Moscow, Swansea, Cork, Northampton and Dublin.

The Dragons return to Wales on Friday when they entertain Ulster with that league fixture followed by Challenge Cup clashes against Newcastle and Enisei-STM and the festive derbies against Cardiff Blues and the Ospreys.

That streak is particularly welcome after they shipped eight tries on a chastening evening at the Royal Dublin Society, wasting a promising start in which they led 10-0.

“We are looking forward to getting back to Rodney Parade to build some momentum in December,” said head coach Jackman. “We are lacking a bit of confidence, so we will get that from some home games.

“We will review the Leinster game and we don’t want to just draw a line under anything, but we also realise the way that it’s stacked against us this season with away games.

“We have gone to Ireland three times already and they are the hardest games along with Glasgow. “We’ve had those games now and are looking forward to getting home, which will give us a huge boost.

“Ulster gave us a hard time over there at the start of the season but Friday is a chance to build up momentum and confidence.”

The Dragons started strongly to score a try by back row forward James Benjamin that was sandwiched by a neat drop goal and conversion by Gavin Henson.

Jackman was hurt by the way his side imploded to allow Leinster to have their bonus point just past the half hour.

“We just showed a lot of naivety, once we gifted them one try we gave them four,” he said.

“That’s down to our composure and while our fitness levels are a lot better, that is not transferring to mental composure.

“There were individual errors, bits of stupidity and lack of discipline to give Leinster footholds in the game for them to be clinical.

“I am annoyed and disappointed but we need to get ourselves back up for what is a really exciting December.

“There were more positives in that game than Munster or Ulster. We are finished with Ireland for this season and this time next year hopefully we’ll have a better team.”

The Dragons are unlikely to have any players back from injury next weekend.

Back row forward Harrison Keddie and full-back Zane Kirchner (both shoulder) are eyeing returns in early January while full-back Car Meyer (abdominal muscle tear) is around a month away from a comeback.