LYN Jones is confident that Newport Gwent Dragons will be in the mix for Champions Cup rugby this time next year.

Edinburgh, seventh in the Guinness Pro12, visit Rodney Parade tomorrow evening looking for a victory to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for 2015/16's premier European tournament.

The ninth-placed Dragons, meanwhile, are looking for a win that will ensure they finish above Cardiff Blues but they are already certain to be playing in the Challenge Cup come November.

They are 12 points behind the sixth-placed Scarlets and 11 behind their Scottish visitors, who as things stand will be the Pro12's representatives in the play-offs with English and French opposition for the final Champions Cup spot.

But director of rugby Jones says that after a slow, injury-hit start his young charges have made great progress this term and believes that they can close the gap and be in contention to rub shoulders with the likes of Toulon, Clermont Auvergne, Racing Metro and Saracens in the premier tournament for the first time since 2011.

"If we are consistent in our performances then we are not a million miles away from the Scarlets, Edinburgh and Connacht," he said.

"What Edinburgh and Connacht have done really well is that they have recruited heavily from the southern hemisphere and skipped their academy.

"We don't have that luxury. We have to develop our own and Mother Nature doesn't have shortcuts."

The Dragons will be aided in their push for Champions Cup rugby by being relatively unaffected by World Cup call-ups with Taulupe Faletau and potentially Hallam Amos their sole Wales representatives.

That will change in time given the bright talent on their books and Jones says the likes of Amos, Jack Dixon, Tyler Morgan, Elliot Dee and James Benjamin will prosper thanks to the experiences of 2014/15.

Unlike last summer – Jones' first in terms of recruitment – there will very few squad departures with the current crop bolstered by confirmed new recruits Sarel Pretorius, Ed Jackson and Charlie Davies.

"We've made so much progress and are coming to the end of our change phase," said Jones. "Next year we hope to deliver consistency in our performances, which comes with experienced players and a settled squad.

"Next year will be the first time that I've got the team that I want to select. We need to ensure that we keep on growing and become far more consistent. Our long-term future is looking quite rosy."