NEWPORT Gwent Dragons are braced for a scrum war when they take on Edinburgh in the Guinness Pro12 this evening (kick-off 7.35pm).

The Dragons have been drilling their set piece at their Ystrad Mynach training base this week in preparation for a bruising encounter with the uncompromising Scots.

Edinburgh will look to put the squeeze on in the tight through their all-international front of Alastair Dickinson, Ross Ford and WP Nel while their meaty pack will be guided around the paddock by scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, the man who tormented the Dragons in their crushing 45-16 European Challenge Cup defeat last season.

Backs coach Shaun Connor knows what is coming and has stressed that they need to be squeaky clean in their own territory.

The former fly-half said: "Edinburgh's strategy revolves around their power game – they play for penalties with their strong scrum, kick to the corner and drive lineouts.

"It's a tactic that they use well and they are very efficient so we cannot give them the set piece possession that they want with lineouts and scrums in your own half. We are not going to kick the leather off the ball but it's about being in the right positions.

"It's not rocket science – we need to keep in their half and make them play."

Lock Matthew Screech will be in the thick of the action and believes the Dragons can take confidence from the last time the teams met.

Just three weeks after their semi-final anguish in Edinburgh they turned the tables at Rodney Parade in the Pro12 to emerge with a 19-5 victory.

"We still think about what went wrong in the semi-final because we put things right a few weeks later," said the 23-year-old. "We took it to them more in that second game and have to do the same again.

"They are probably one of the best packs in the Pro12 but we just have to match them and I think there is a lot more to come from us up front. Last year we were a big threat with the driving maul and I am sure that will come together again soon."

The Dragons are still without influential tighthead Brok Harris with Shaun Knight continuing at 3 but experienced loosehead Boris Stankovich returns to the XV. Full team news on page 37