A win for Munster would see them sustain a decent lead at the top of the league table but Penney insists he’s not thinking about that.

He said: "The Dragons are a competent team with a great history, they are tough at the best of times and they have just had a really good result against Glasgow up there.

"We have to be at the pinnacle of our peak performances as well, we have started to build up a bit of consistency so we want to keep that momentum up."

Since the start of the season Penney has given plenty of opportunity to the younger players coming through at the province, using 34 players in total in both Pro 12 and Heineken Cup competitions.

He says he’s pleased with how well the squad are gelling together.

He said: "The boys are doing a good job and getting some good results, we are not playing as well as we would have liked but we still have growth in us and we are getting the results so to that end it is positive."

With a Heineken Cup double-header against Perpignan only around the corner, Penney has played down the importance of a win this weekend to build momentum but instead insisted on how important it is for his squad to perform for a place in those Heineken match-day squads.

"There are some people getting an opportunity this week that will need to play well to force their hand into the ERC selection.

Penny added: "We have had guys who have done the job in previous Heineken matches, so when you have depth and guys are getting rotated in, when they get their opportunity, they have to play well."