THE Dragons have suffered an injury blow after captain Ben Carter suffered a knee injury in training with Wales.
The lock has been released from Test camp after being ruled out of the fixtures against Fiji, Australia and South Africa and will now have the blow fully assessed.
The 23-year-old from Caldicot has played every minute of all six games in the United Rugby Championship so far after being named as skipper in the summer.
His fine form earned a call-up for the autumn Test and he aimed to add to his 12 caps but now he faces a spell on the sidelines, with Cardiff's Teddy Williams replacing him in the Wales squad.
After missing out on the World Cup, Carter suffered a hamstring injury last season that ruled him out of contention for the Six Nations.
He impressed against South Africa at Twickenham but then was unable to feature on the tour to Australia because of a shoulder problem.
The Dragons will hope for good news from scans ahead of a key block of fixtures in the URC and Challenge Cup, but the fact the influential forward has been released by Wales doesn't bode well.
They currently have Matthew Screech, Steve Cummins, George Nott and Joe Davies as senior specialist options in the second row.
They are backed up by flanker/locks Shane Lewis-Hughes and Ryan Woodman while promising Wales Under-20s international Nick Thomas is impressing while learning the ropes with Newport RFC in Super Rygbi Cymru.
The Dragons return to action at Cardiff on November 30, then start their European campaign at home to Montpellier and away to Newcastle.
The festive derbies against Cardiff at Rodney Parade on Boxing Day and at the Scarlets on New Year’s Day are followed by the Challenge Cup group stage finale against Pau at home and away to the Lions.
The final fixture of the block before the Six Nations is a home encounter with Munster.
The Dragons now have three players in Wales' squad for the autumn internationals - wing Rio Dyer, number eight Aaron Wainwright and scrum-half Rhodri Williams.
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