'Dragons must strengthen squad in order to beat the best'

Apr 23 2007 Richard Clifford, South Wales Echo

Paul Turner believes his squad needs to be bolstered if they are to compete with the best sides in Europe.

And the Dragons coach admits the Gwent region doesn't have the strength in depth to visit teams like Clermont and turn them over.

'With such a small squad it's hard to compete against a top side like Clermont,' he said.

'The lack of squad strength is the key ingredient to a strong team and we lack that at the moment.

'You just have to look at the two teams and their replacements bench to see that and it does show up in the end.

'You have to say the game got away from us because we had no strength in depth.'

But Turner offered no excuses for his side's loss and conceded they were simply overrun by Clermont's first-half try blitz when the hosts scored 21 unanswered points in just nine minutes.

That as good as ended the tie as a genuine contest, a point Turner readily accepted.

He added: 'We always said the opening 20 minutes would be absolutely crucial and we missed tackles and our set-piece game and accuracy was poor.'

'It's always hard coming back and chasing the game from a big deficit, especially against a side of Clermont's quality and in the heat

'We have to pick ourselves up now for the end of the season as there's still a lot to play for.'