NEWPORT Gwent Dragons boss Lyn Jones believes that a summer of stability will aid his long-term ambition of chasing down the Ospreys to become Wales' leading side.

The Dragons' 19-5 win against Edinburgh at Rodney Parade last Friday ensured they will finish ninth in the Guinness Pro12 and above tenth-placed Cardiff Blues.

Avoiding the tag of Wales' lowest ranked side – something that they have done for the first time since 2010 – is a small but important step.

The next stage is to push into a race for Champions Cup rugby and next season they will be helped by having a settled squad.

Lee Byrne and Ian Gough have retired, Richie Rees is mulling over an offer to become academy skills coach, Jonathan Evans is Bath-bound, Andy Powell has left and loosehead prop Owen Evans, a fringe figure this term, is Harlequins-bound after not having a fresh contract offer but there are not the sweeping changes of 2014.

The confirmed signings for next season are scrum-halves Sarel Pretorius and Charlie Davies along with number eight Ed Jackson while the World Cup call-ups that will affect the region can be counted on one hand.

"The turnover in the squad from last season to this one was nearly 50 per cent," said Jones. "Everything that we developed last year went out the window and we had to start again.

"But going into pre-season there is going to be some element of momentum and we are not going to go back to square one, teaching and learning the fundamentals.

"Players will remember what they have been through and the understanding between them is a lot greater. You are building and fermenting a team.

"We are going to be a tougher team next year and then the year after a little bit better again and eventually, if you keep growing and growing, you become a difficult side."

The Dragons have been lowest region in three of 11 previous campaigns and they have never topped the pile, an achievement that Jones doesn't believe is fanciful given time and a bit of luck.

"The Dragons have consistently been kicked in the belly and been the fourth region year after year after year," he said. "One of my goals is to become the best Welsh region but that doesn't happen overnight.

"We've only finished ninth and to be honest I was targeting eighth but the overseas recruitment from the southern hemisphere by Connacht and Edinburgh has been extreme and has kept them above us.

"We also had the injury list in September, October and November, which was horrific and the worst I've experienced.

"Everybody gets injuries but ours were all at lock and centre. It was really difficult to go from week to week, patching up.

"We've turned a corner but I still don't know how good we are because Ross Wardle, Ashley Smith, Lee Byrne, Pat Leach and Aled Brew have been out for massive periods of the season.

"But what is evident is that there are young players here that are going to grow up to be very good rugby players."

The Dragons finish their season against Munster in Cork on Saturday afternoon with the third-placed Irish province needing to win, ideally with a bonus point, in their bid for a home semi-final.