JASON Tovey is set for a third spell with the Dragons after head coach Bernard Jackman pledged to give the fly-half a shot in the Guinness PRO14.

The 29-year-old from Risca, the Rodney Parade region's record points scorer, helped with training ahead of last Friday's European Challenge Cup defeat to Northampton.

He could not be registered to face the Saints as European rules state additional players must be on at least a three-month contract.

Tovey left Edinburgh at the end of last season and has been playing for Cross Keys in the Principality Premiership, so if the Dragons want him in the upcoming PRO14 encounters with Ulster and Connacht then they could play him on permit.

That may be a necessity with Gavin Henson (knee) and Arwel Robson (ankle) injured, Jacob Botica learning the ropes as a full-timer after his summer move from RGC 1404 and Josh Lewis enduring a tricky start to life at Rodney Parade after arriving from Bath.

Tovey is a known quantity after racking up 951 points in 163 games over two spells with the Dragons, making his debut as a teenager in 2008 and then returning in 2013 after an ill-fated season with Cardiff Blues.

He headed north for two seasons in the Scottish capital in 2016 but under-pressure coach Jackman is likely to hand a third Dragons opportunity to the left-footed Keys playmaker.

 

"We've got Gavin and Arwel injured and Jacob is still adapting to the speed of pro rugby, which we expected," said Jackman.

"We have got a guy who has kicked 1,600 points in pro rugby on our doorstep and he wants a shot; he trained with us last week and looks great.

"We need to pick whoever can help us win games and it was good to have a look at him last week and see where he is fitness-wise.

"He can game manage and is a talented player, so we will definitely look at him over the next few weeks.

"We have no choice at the moment because we are so light with Jordan Williams covering 10, and he is a key guy for us in the back three.

"We will have to look at it for Ulster. We definitely want to have a look at Jason at some stage."

Former Ebbw Vale fly-half Lewis has shown glimpses of talent since arriving from the Rec but had a tough time against the Saints, putting two penalties to touch dead and kicking a restart out on the full.

"He is a great kid with loads of talent but there is a lot of pressure on 10s at regions, it's a big ask," said Jackman.

"Show me a 10 that hasn't had a bad patch. We believe in him and think that he is a really good talent, it's just he is with a few boys that haven't played together and he is having a couple of average performances.

"There is nothing catastrophic that he can't change. We believe in him and will back him."