The Dragons have only been involved in the knockout stages of European competition on the one occasion back in 2006/07 but they put 50 points on Italian outfit Mogliano in Round One on Friday and currently sit top of Pool 2.
Lyn Jones’ troops travel to England this weekend to face Aviva Premiership side Bath, before taking on French Top 14 team Bordeaux-Begles in their December double header, and Sidoli is confident they can be in the mix come rounds five and six in the New Year.
“That sounds more than possible,” said Sidoli, who skippered the Dragons in their seven-try thrashing of Mogliano.
“With the exception of a few new signings this season, we’ve got a squad of boys who have been together and there’s a lot of talent in those boys. There’s a framework and attitude developing behind the scenes to bring the best out in those guys. The results that have gone well for us will help us turn a slightly negative perception of us into a good perception.
“If you’re going to do well in the Amlin Challenge Cup, you need a squad to do it. The Mogliano game proved, with the boys coming in, that we’ve developing a good squad, with healthy competition. I’m confident that, because of that, we can make something happen.”
It’s certainly been a promising start to the season for Sidoli and co, with the Dragons winning all three home games in the PRO12 – in addition to a pre-season victory over Bath and last week’s European win against Mogliano – to sit sixth in the domestic standings.
They are yet to win on the road, though, having been pipped by a last-gasp penalty at Edinburgh before being beaten at Munster, but Sidoli wants to change all that at The Rec on Saturday afternoon.
“There’s a framework and a habit developing here and our challenge is to take that on the road. We need to be accurate in ourselves and take that game away with us. We’ve had a couple of opportunities away and we haven’t quite produced,” added Sidoli.
“The focus will be on us again against Bath. We need to get our mindset in the right place and take our game to them. Having played them in pre-season, the ‘W’ was good for us. As long as we work hard for each other, which is what we’re all about, I’m more than confident we’ll take the challenge to Bath.
“Everybody’s hungry: the boys want to be in this team and they want to have that jersey on. To have that hunger and the framework that we’re developing means that it’s a confident place at the minute.”
