NEWPORT Gwent Dragons' injury problems are mounting ahead of Sunday's Rodney Parade encounter with Guinness Pro12 title contenders Ulster, writes Chris Kirwan.

The region have a midfield injury crisis with Ashley Smith and Pat Leach rated as 50/50 because of knee injuries, leaving Jack Dixon as their sole fit centre because Ross Wardle (shoulder) is out for the rest of the season and Tyler Morgan (knee) is working his way back to fitness with the Wales medical team.

Lock Andrew Coombs remains a doubt because of a back problem and flanker James Thomas needs to prove his fitness after suffering a nasty blow to his left shoulder in Sunday's shock 23-17 loss to Zebre in Parma.

Full-back Lee Byrne does not yet have the green light but should be fit to play in the next fixture against Treviso at the end of the month after four months out with a shoulder problem while hooker Elliot Dee (shoulder) and flanker Lewis Evans (wrist) are out for the rest of the season.

The lengthy list of absentees makes the task all the harder against in-form Ulster, who sit third in the table after four wins on the spin, the latest a powerful 25-20 success against the Scarlets.

The Dragons, meanwhile, have lost to Connacht and Zebre since stunning Leinster on their own turf with last week's 23-17 loss in Parma particularly hard to stomach.

"Some performances were nowhere near good enough for regional rugby," said director of rugby Lyn Jones.

"I have to give credit to Zebre, their attacking game was outstanding for the first 30 minutes of the game. They were ferocious and got away with everything at the breakdown.

"We are hurting and are very upset in the manner of losing, losing the ball over the line and missing kicks in front of the posts.

"I've been in rugby for 20 years as a coach and you just know the script and know it's not going to come your way. We were camped in their half for the second half but didn't score a point for 35 minutes."

Ulster could be without flanker Roger Wilson and centre Luke Marshall after they were cited for punching and kicking respectively in their win against the Scarlets.