CAPTAIN Rhys Thomas says Newport Gwent Dragons deserve a summer of torment after a nightmare Guinness Pro12 season.

The Rodney Parade side made it to the European Challenge Cup semi-finals for the second successive season but endured a shocking league campaign.

They recorded just four wins out of 22 games, failed to win away from home and finished with just the Italian pair of Zebre and Treviso beneath them.

Hopes had been high before the season after ending 2014/15 strongly and finishing above Cardiff Blues but the Dragons have 'won' back the unwanted tag as Wales' worst region for the ninth time in 13 seasons.

"We are disappointed and frustrated with how this season has gone, it's not been good enough," said the former Wales hooker.

"After the way we finished in 2015 we had big plans for this season and for whatever reason it didn't happen for us.

"We had our end of season reviews this week and deserved to be treated harshly and put to the sword by the staff.

"If you take the wages then the harsh reality of sport is that you deserve criticism if you are not good enough.

"It deserves to be a long summer, years ago I spoke to (former Wales and Newport full-back) Shane Howarth and he said it was like having pebbles under your towel on the beach.

"We've not been good enough and we need to use it as fuel. We can't just draw a line under it, we need to remember this disappointment for next season and work hard in pre-season."

Thomas missed the end of the campaign after undergoing surgery on his right knee but will be back for pre-season, tussling once against with Wales hopeful Elliot Dee for the 2 jersey.

The 22-year-old from Newbridge may have missed the cut for the summer tour of New Zealand but his skipper has urged him to keep plugging away.

Thomas, capped 27 times, said: "He is certainly more talented than I ever was at his age! He is eager to push on but there's a lot of competition at hooker in Wales.

"He just needs to keep doing what he is doing and keep putting his hand up. We always joke about my age but I want to push him as much as I can.

"Elliot will keep improving with age, more experience and gaining in natural size and he needs to be head and shoulders above everyone else in our pack, which he has been in some games."