Richard Cockerill credits pre-season hard work for Edinburgh's success against Cardiff Blues
Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill wants to maintain his side's impressive start to the campaign
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Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill credited the club's preparations during their pre-season for their successful start to the 2017/18 season of Pro 14.
The Scottish regional side broke their dry spell in Cardiff with a 10-20 win over the Blues riding on tries from Blair Kinghorn and Chris Dean.
Edinburgh now will host Dragons at The Myreside on Friday and Cockerill is hoping that the side will capitalise on the home advantage and keep their momentum going.
"Training has been good this week and we took great confidence from getting the result in Cardiff," said Cockerill.
"We've put in a lot of hard work in pre-season and I think we saw the rewards of that at the weekend.
"We've got to keep chipping away and keep building that confidence, culture and identity in what we're doing. It was a good start for us, but we need to get it right again tomorrow night against the Dragons to make sure we keep collecting points - getting as many as we can, as early as we can.
"I expect energy from the guys who've come in. They've worked hard and got their opportunity to play. We've got a strong squad and we've got options in a lot of positions, so for the guys coming in, I want them to bring us energy, but I also want them to fight and try and earn a spot in this team.
"Myreside is a great stadium. The guys behind the scenes have put in a lot of work to get it ready and it's a fantastic surface for the team to play on.
"When people come and watch us, they'll walk away knowing that their team has put 100 per cent commitment into the Edinburgh shirt."
Cockerill has made five changes to the starting line-up with centre Robbie Fruean in line to make his debut and will join Chris Dean in the midfield.
Damien Hoyland replaces the injured Dougie Fife on the right wing and Italian international prop Michele Rizzo comes in for Darryl Marfo. Lock Ben Toolis takes Anton Bresler's slot while Hamish Watson replace fellow Scotland international John Hardie.
