MATTHEW Screech knows that he needs to make every minute count in his bid to show he deserves to be in the Dragons boilerhouse after making his return from concussion.

The 25-year-old lock made a promising start to the campaign before suffering a blow to the head in the European Rugby Challenge Cup loss against Newcastle.

That led to a month on the sidelines but Screech returned alongside Rynard Landman in the second row in Saturday's Anglo-Welsh Cup loss to Northampton at Franklin's Gardens.

He will hope to get the nod again when the Dragons face the Scarlets in the development competition at Rodney Parade on Friday (kick-off 7.30pm) with the aim of showing he deserves to be in the first XV.

While Wales lock Cory Hill is away for the autumn internationals, Screech is battling with Landman and Joe Davies for the starts against Leinster and Ulster in the Guinness PRO14.

"I want to get some games under my belt because it was going decently for me at the start of the season before my concussion," said Screech.

"It took a while to go away and I wasn't able to do much training but last week I passed the tests and it was good to fit in for the game against Northampton.

"Hopefully this Anglo-Welsh period will help me get back up to speed and then it leads into the PRO14.

"I just want to get as many games and as many minutes as I can to show that I deserve to be here."

The Dragons entertain the Scarlets on the back of heavy losses to Munster, 49-6 in Cork, and the Saints, 41-7.

However, the performance against experienced hosts in the latter was far more encouraging than the one versus the latter.

Screech has demanded that the Dragons make further strides in their first Rodney Parade clash since September 30 to take some momentum into tricky PRO14 encounters with Leinster in Dublin and Ulster in Newport.

"The score in Northampton was quite similar to the one in Cork but the boys feel that we improved a lot, we fronted up and corrected a fair few things," said the lock.

"But good teams punish little mistakes and we have to improve again against the Scarlets. It's a massive game for us, not just because it's a derby but also because we haven't played at home for a while.

"We had a good win against them in this competition last year and hopefully we can do the same to take into the PRO14."

If the Dragons fail to beat their regional rivals then their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of the development competition will be slim.

Exeter, Harlequins and Sale have all won two from two in the competition, which pits teams from the Dragons' Pool Two against those from Pool Three.

The Rodney Parade region entertain Worcester and travel to Saracens in the New Year.

Pool Two standings: Exeter 10 points, Harlequins 10 points, Sale 8 points, Dragons 0 points