Ken Owens: Scarlets captain says side can bounce back from Ospreys loss

Ken Owens has made 195 appearances for Scarlets

Scarlets captain Ken Owens says they can bounce back from their derby defeat by west Wales rivals Ospreys - just like they recovered from losing their first three games of the season.

Defeats by Munster, Edinburgh and Ulster were followed by a run of nine wins in 11 Pro12 and European games, including a win against Toulon.

Ospreys beat Scarlets 19-9 on Tuesday.

"Hopefully it's just a glitch. We'll see next week if it's a huge step back," Owens told BBC Radio Wales.

"We've bounced back well, we didn't have a great start [losing first three games] but we've built momentum.

"We've got some great performances in during the international period and over the last couple of weeks."

Scarlets are fifth in the Pro12 following the Ospreys defeat but Owens is optimistic about their progress this season after a poor start to their league campaign.

"You can't win every game in the season and, as long as we turn up with a huge win against the Blues, then we'll be back in that winning groove again," Owens continued.

"You can't go all season winning every game, it's not going to happen, so we will put ourselves in a position now from the start we had."

'Too many penalties'

Scott Williams suffered an eye injury in Scarlets' defeat by Ospreys

Scott Williams says Ospreys' kicking game proved vital in the defeat and says they need to look at themselves closely before facing Cardiff Blues on New Year's Day.

"We knew it was going to be close but there were too many mistakes and too many penalties," Williams said.

"Our defence has been pretty good the last couple of weeks but you can't be giving penalties away when they've got boys like Dan Biggar and Sam Davies in their team.

"We'll be tough on ourselves now. We've got another derby in four days so we've got to get our heads on for that and make sure we turn up."