Dickson, the first five-eighth for Otago against Wellington at Carisbrook tonight, said the side had put the agonising Ranfurly Shield loss to Southland behind it, and needed to be focused against a "dangerous" opponent.
"They are a talented and dangerous side who have guys who can break the line from anywhere.
"The majority of their guys can do things with a rugby ball," Dickson said.
"So we need to get on top of them and not allow them a lot of space."
Dickson will be a key tonight as he aims to keep the ball in front of his forward pack and makes sure he kicks his goals.
He slotted all but one attempt last week against Southland, the one he missed an ambitious 59m effort.
"I always back myself to get it over, even from 60m to 62m. You've got to have a crack. I've got the confidence to do it.
"I love being the goalkicker - having the boys trust you to do the right thing.
"Sure, you get the accolades when things go well, but you get the criticism when they don't go over and you have a bad day.
"But that is the way it is."
Dickson slotted a penalty against Waikato last year on Carisbrook from more than 55m, and he said he slotted them of similar length at training.
The Pirates stalwart said the team had taken a couple of days to get over the loss to Southland and he had relived the game plenty of times.
"I've had a couple of sleepless nights, just thinking about what it would have been like if things had worked out different during the game, and what it would have been playing against Wellington with the shield at stake.
"But it didn't happen and you can't afford to dwell too long on it. You've got to back up straight away and get back into it.
"We've just got to take the good things we did last week, improve on them and just do the little one-percenters for the individuals."
In his second season in the No 10 jersey for Otago, Dickson has benefited from injury to University inside back Chris Noakes, being so far unchallenged for the jersey.
But with Noakes due back in a couple of weeks, Dickson knows he will have to perform well to stay on the field.
"Playing 10 is an important job. You're leading the team round the paddock, trying to make the right decisions for the team."
His trusty right boot was an asset for the team, which wanted to be direct and get stuck in to its opponents, but that did not necessarily translate into 10-man rugby, he said.
"We're not going to kick the ball all the time. It might mean we need to stop running too lateral across the field.
We're not going to be doing pick and goes all the time, and one-off runners."
That style was used to good effect against Southland and may be to the fore again against a talented Wellington side.
On paper, Wellington is brimming with talent, and if given space and time will cut an opponent to shreds.
Plus it has the incentive to send out new Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph a winner.
Otago needs to eliminate mistakes, hang on to the ball and make its tackles to get its hand on the Mike Gibson Memorial Trophy.
But most importantly, Otago needs a win.
With Tasman beating Hawkes Bay on Thursday night, Otago now finds itself propping up the table.
Though it is early days in this competition, Otago has to start getting that winning feeling.
Otago v Wellington
Carisbrook, tonight, 7.35pm
Referee: James McPhail (Canterbury)
TAB odds: Otago $3, Wellington $1.35
Otago: Chris Small, Ryan Shortland, Ben Smith, Josh Tatupu, Fetu'u Vainikolo, Glenn Dickson, Sean Romans, Adam Thomson, Alando Soakai (captain), Paul Grant, Hayden Triggs, Hoani Matenga, Sam Hibbard, Peter Mirrielees, Kees Meeuws.
Reserves: Liam Coltman, Blair Young, Seko Kalou, Brad Cameron, Johnny Legg, Andrew Parata, Joe Hill.
Wellington: Apoua Stewart, Julian Savea, Charlie Ngatai, Shaun Treeby, Hosea Gear, Fa'atonu Fili, Alby Mathewson, Faifili Levave, Scott Fugistaller, Mark Reddish, Daniel Ramsay, Jeremy Thrush, Neemia Tialata (captain), Dane Coles, John Schwalger.
Reserves: Ged Robinson, Jacob Ellison, Api Naikatini, TJ Ioane, Ruki Tipuna, Hayden Cripps, Alapati Leuia.
