DRAGONS boss Bernard Jackman insists that he isn’t feeling under pressure about his future ahead of Saturday’s crucial Guinness PRO14 clash with Zebre.

The Rodney Parade region have made an indifferent start to the season with a nervy win against Southern Kings – their first success in the league since last September – sandwiched by a disappointing home loss to Benetton and a drubbing at champions Leinster.

That has put the heat on the Dragons for their encounter with the Italians in Newport (kick-off 5.15pm) after Jackman spent much of his first year at the helm stressing it was all about planning for 2018/19.

The head coach brought in 14 new players, notably Wales internationals Ross Moriarty, Richard Hibbard, Rhodri Williams and Aaron Jarvis, but the displays in the first three rounds have some long-suffering supporters fearing the same old disappointment.

Jackman, who replaced Kingsley Jones in the summer of 2017, believes that the Dragons are on the right track and stresses he isn’t feeling under the heat for his own future.

“If you worry about that it will affect your decisions. My decisions have to be made with a clear head about what’s best for the team,” said the former Ireland hooker.

“That’s getting stability and working with the coaching staff to get those performance levels right. I am not concerned about my own future to be honest, it’s about doing the best job that you can.

“We just crack on with getting better, it’s a good organisation to work for and my job is to get results as quickly as we can.

“I understand that we’ve got to be patient a little bit but we are very hard on ourselves and want to get results quickly.”

The Dragons won just twice in the PRO14 last season but Jackman is confident that he has the talent in his squad to enjoy a much better second campaign at the helm.

“Everyone wants us to be better,” he said. “If you look at resources we are still behind but we like the group that we have, we feel they have potential to get good results and we want to get there are soon as possible.

“We had a couple of marquee signings but our budget is £4.5million compared to £6million-plus everywhere else.

“We have got to be realistic. The big thing is to keep these players fit and healthy. Losing Tyler Morgan and Hallam Amos in the past week is a blow but it is up to the people that come in to do the job.”

The Dragons name their team on Friday with Adam Warren continuing to deputise for Morgan while Jared Rosser will replace Amos on the wing.

Leon Brown (shoulder) is likely to miss out but his fellow Wales tighthead Aaron Jarvis, signed from Clermont Auvergne, is poised for a debut as back-up to Lloyd Fairbrother after a rapid return from a summer bicep injury.