WING Will Harries feels he is finally back to full speed after overcoming knee ligament surgery.

The 24-year-old spent eight months on the sidelines after suffering the injury to his right leg against the Ospreys last April.

And there is a nice symmetry to the story after the winger played 80 minutes for the first time since the injury against the Swansea-based region in last week’s dramatic 21-20 win at Rodney Parade.

Harries, capped twice by Wales in 2010, was forced into a swifter return than first planned because of a Dragons injury crisis in the back three.

After slowly finding his feet, the winger hopes to show he is hitting his straps in tomorrow’s Amlin Challenge Cup clash at Perpignan.

“It was the longest I have ever been in my life without running, let alone playing rugby,” said Harries, who is in his third season with the region.

“But I am feeling good and fully fit now. I spent a while getting back into reading the game and hopefully I can show my full sharpness against Perpignan.

“The Ospreys game was one of the first games where I didn’t even think about my knee, so it was good to get back into that mindset.

“First game back at Exeter I did think about it for that split second before I was tackled but now it is back to normal and second nature to me.”

Harries believes he is back to full speed and it’s just as well – the winger needs to keep up with in-form number eight Toby Faletau.

The Wales star seemed to burst the line at will in the three festive Welsh derbies and it is keeping the Dragons flyers on their toes.

“Toby is on fire at the moment and it is great for us as a team,” said Harries.

“All you have to do as a winger is run off him because he is breaking the line so often.

“But he is hard to keep up with, especially if you are not expecting a break – in a split second he is gone.”

Even if the Dragons win in Perpignan tomorrow it is highly unlikely that they will qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament.

But the fervent Catalan atmosphere of the Stade Aime Giral means that it remains a game that Harries is relishing.

He said: “We played at Toulouse last season and the atmosphere was awesome, so I am really looking forward to it.

“Perpignan like ball in hand and if it’s a nice day there will be a lot of running rugby. We want to play that way as well, so it should be a good game.

“It was good to get a win under our belt against the Ospreys and now we want to keep pushing forward.”