NEWPORT Gwent Dragons’ injury crisis has deepened ahead of Sunday’s must-win Guinness Pro12 clash with Treviso.

The region had hoped that captain and full-back Lee Byrne (shoulder), fly-half Jason Tovey (calf) and centre Ashley Smith (hamstring) would return at Rodney Parade to spearhead their bid for a first victory of the season.

But those hopes have been dashed and the prognosis is worse than first thought for centres Pat Leach and Tyler Morgan.

Leach, who suffered a knee injury against Northampton in pre-season, will be out for three months rather than four to six weeks while Morgan, who hurt his knee against the Ospreys a fortnight ago, will be out for two months rather than one.

With Jack Dixon out for three months with a wrist injury and Ross Wardle out until the New Year after knee surgery, on-loan Ospreys centre Ben John is the Dragons’ sole senior specialist in midfield and he is not available for European Rugby Challenge Cup fixtures.

The Dragons’ efforts to recruit an overseas centre are hindered by the timing of the injury problems as New Zealand’s ITM Cup and South Africa’s Currie Cup are being played.

Fly-half Dorian Jones slotted in alongside John in Saturday’s 33-13 thumping at the hands of Glasgow with 17-year-old Newport High School student Barney Nightingale making his second cameo of the season off the bench.

Wings Aled Brew or Hallam Amos are other options for midfield against Treviso as Matthew Pewtner is back from Wales sevens duty.

“These are extreme circumstances which don’t come along very often in a coaching career,” said director of rugby Lyn Jones.

“To lose so many players after the Ospreys was a one-off while to have five centres injured has never happened before to me.

“We were desperate for some of our experienced players to come back against Treviso but now it’s about trying to put five years of experience into young players in five days, and that is challenging.

“When this injury crisis is over we will reflect on the period as a big positive as Angus O’Brien, Dorian Jones, Luc Jones and Ashton Hewitt will have all played several first-team matches and developed accordingly.

“But at the moment the business needs stability and positive performances and we have had our attacking venom taken away.”

Jones doesn’t just have an injury headache in the backs as locks Ian Gough, Matthew Screech and Joe Davies are all absent because of shoulder injuries while Andrew Coombs is suspended.

Rynard Landman and Cory Hill started against Glasgow and they are backed up by the inexperienced pair of James Thomas and Scott Andrews, who locked horns when Bedwas played Cross Keys last weekend.

The Dragons and Treviso are yet to win this season and the Italians have already suffered a pair of drubbings in Wales; 44-13 to the Ospreys and 43-0 to the Scarlets.