SKILLS coach Barry Maddocks believes the strides made by the Dragons' young guns have provided a silver lining in a challenging season.

The Rodney Parade region must win their remaining fixtures at Zebre on Saturday and against the Scarlets at Judgement Day at the end of the month to avoid setting a record low for league wins.

They have triumphed just twice in the Guinness PRO14 with those successes coming against Connacht and Southern Kings in September.

However, head coach Bernard Jackman has leaned heavily on youth in his first year at the helm in a bid to expose bright prospects to professional rugby.

Of the 26 players that are currently in Italy preparing for the encounter with Zebre in L'Aquila (kick-off 4pm) after being edged out at the death at Benetton last weekend, nine have made their debuts this season while two others, lock Joe Davies and fly-half Arwel Robson, had only previously been involved in the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

"We have got a young group and see the developments in them but it's tough if you are not getting the results because everybody looks at it negatively," admitted Maddocks, who joined from Bath in August.

"But we are talking about boys from 17 years of age to 22 and it's a huge batch that will have gained experience, tough times and good."

Maddocks has been pleased with the progress of the prospects, and not just in terms of on-field performance.

"We've seen incremental changes and the statistics and data show that we are making small gains and shifts in the young guys. The boys are moving forward," he said.

"Not just in the rugby but in terms of maturity, because we are asking kids to become adults very, very quickly.

"Their physical attributes have to change and they have done exceptionally well in that, while from a skills perspective it's not just on the pitch, it will be things like how they present and speak to their peer group.

"That's all an innate skill because the reality is that nowadays the conversation that a lot of young kids have is on the phone rather than interacting with other people."

The Dragons are bringing in experience next season and the challenge will be for their young contingent to push hard for more PRO14 action after being given a taste in 2018/19.

"We have seen some great individual performances from the likes of Max Williams, Aaron Wainwright, Dan Babos, Arwel Robson, Jared Rosser, and they are still improving as a group," said Maddocks.

"The exposure and experiences that they have had means they will have learnt a lot this year and that will move them forward over the next 12 to 18 months.

"There is still a lot of work to be done and in reality we are still a little bit of time away; next year we will be better and there will be improved performances but there will also be blips."

The Dragons have 18 points and sit with just the Kings beneath them in Conference B but could still finish with a tally higher than Zebre, who have 22 and prop up Conference A.