AUTUMN provides a chance for fringe players to provide their coaches with a selection headache but sadly paracetamol has not been in demand at Newport Gwent Dragons.

The Rodney Parade pecking order is pretty clear after the first few months of the season.

After arriving from London Welsh in June, director of rugby Lyn Jones was keen to develop a first XV in the opening seven games of the RaboDirect Pro12 campaign.

Patience has had to be a virtue for a number of players who knew their chance would come in the window for Test rugby.

Successful sides are said to be fuelled by the battle for starting spots but so far the Dragons management team have not had too many tough calls to make.

Nobody has really screamed 'pick me, pick me' from the Amlin Challenge Cup encounter with Mogliano or the LV= Cup opener against the Scarlets.

That will have been a disappointment given that they have a smaller squad than most.

Some of them will get another chance to impress against London Wasps on Saturday lunchtime but expect scrum-half Richie Rees, fly-half Jason Tovey, flanker Lewis Evans, lock Matthew Screech, hooker Sam Parry and centres Ross Wardle and Pat Leach to slot straight back in against Glasgow a week on Friday.

It will be interesting to see how things change over the summer; a number of the current crop are playing for their futures and Jones has already done a bit of trading to swap Ian Nimmo for a younger Welsh lock in Cory Hill.

Those that don't show signs of improvement over the coming months can expect to be shown the door, especially given that the LV= Cup has shown that there is plenty of teenage talent waiting to step up to the seniors.

SPARE a thought for the staff at Rodney Parade.

Pompey Tuesday, Hartlepool Friday, London Wasps Saturday, Braintree Tuesday, Carmarthen Quins Saturday.

And there would have been some clammy hands when watching Tore Andre Flo and Perry Groves carrying out the draw for the second round of the FA Cup last Sunday.

Thankfully County (replay permitting) will be on their travels on the weekend of December 8 – when the Dragons are playing Bordeaux and Newport host Bedwas.

The pitch needs a breather, just like the stewards, bar workers and ground staff. After all, we don't want it looking like the Millennium Stadium.