Munster, reigning champions Leinster and the Ospreys lead the way at the top but seven points covers the next six teams in the table.
Now Dragons skipper Willis believes his team-mates can still catch fourth-placed Edinburgh with victory over basement club Connacht on Friday night.
Willis said: “It is a very congested mid-table and that is why this match is such an important game. We go into games as a team and don’t want to fall off the pace. We are already looking at the fixtures and there is no reason why we cannot move up the table.”
Paul Turner’s men welcome back Wales’ Luke Charteris and promising youngster Jason Tovey from international duty for the trip to Galway.
And Kiwi star hooker Willis denies the absence of players has hurt their chances during the Six Nations break. He said: “I wouldn’t say there have been lots of disruptions due to the Six Nations.
“We have only had one international and one under-20 international away so we have had far less disruptions than other clubs. Not that this concerns us, as we are just concerned about building an effective unit.”
Willis hopes his experience of playing in the southern hemisphere will rub off on the young members of the Dragons squad.
But the 29-year-old insists he is ready for the Dragons’ end-of-season run-in. “If I feel like I need a breather the coaches are pretty receptive to it. For example, I only played half the game in the friendly against the Scarlets last week.
“Some of the boys moan about sore calves, sore shins, but I’d take this any day of the week. The general standard of the grounds is better here than in New Zealand.”
