Centre Rob Dewey has backed Scotland to bounce back from their shock 37-17 defeat to Italy in their last match, with a strong showing against Triple Crown-chasing Ireland this coming Saturday.

Scotland are currently next-bottom in the table - above only Wales, whom they beat 21-9 on February 10 - and the loss to perennial strugglers Italy severely embarrassed Frank Hadden's side.

However, Dewey insists the team have moved on from that result.

``I think everyone was disappointed after the Italy game, but that was last week and everyone is now looking forward to the two games against Ireland and France that we've got left in this Six Nations,'' he said.

``I don't think any of us are looking back to the Italy game, we are just focusing on the Ireland game whole-heartedly.

``The boys were very disappointed at the time but we are a close-knit group and the enthusiasm levels are very high in the squad.

``As soon as it happened the guys knew that they hadn't put in the right performance and that couple of things hadn't gone our way, but all we can do is press on and look to the future.

``It is going to be a massive challenge for us. Ireland put in a great performance in their last match against England at Croke Park, while we lost against Italy - but we've highlighted a few key areas we've got to work on this week, and hopefully that will pay dividends at the weekend.''

Dewey will be moving from Edinburgh to Ulster next season, which means he will be playing against a few of his future team-mates on Saturday - however, he does not think that will add any extra bite to proceedings.

``It hadn't really crossed my mind to be honest. It is something to look forward to after the Six Nations. All my focus at the moment is on playing for Scotland,'' he said.

``We'll just have to see how it goes. At the moment all I'm worried about is being selected, and then my focus will be on hoping the team can put in a big performance.''

After losing 21 points within seven minutes of kick-off against Italy, Dewey knows a good start on Saturday will be vital if they are to overcome the odds to claim a famous victory over a resurgent Irish team.

``I honestly think we took the right options at the start against Italy and if a couple of things had gone right for us we would have broken through and maybe scored a few tries - but it didn't work out for us, and we were up against it from then on in,'' he said.

``So, it's obviously going to be vitally important that we start well against Ireland, in the same way as we started well against England and Wales - and I'm sure that we can do that.

``What happened against Italy was a one-off.''