NEWPORT Gwent Dragons have suffered another savage blow with the loss of talismanic number eight Joe Bearman for at least six weeks with a groin injury which will also wreck his chances of making the Wales squad for the autumn internationals.

But balancing the loss of Bearman and props Ben Castle, Ali McKenzie, Nigel Hall and Phil Price, is the return of inspirational captain Tom Willis for Friday night’s away Magners League game against the Scarlets plus the inclusion of centre Matthew Watkins for the first time this season.

And the Dragons have also taken on two Welsh props to try to offset the loss of so many others – Pat Palmer from Cardiff Blues and Ricky Davies, formerly with the Scarlets currently with Birmingham/Solihull.

Bearman has been struggling for weeks with a groin injury and has been in pain, though playing on until last week when he was missed the Glasgow Heineken Cup-tie at Rodney Parade.

He has seen a specialist in London and has been advised to rest, otherwise an operation will be necessary.

Bearman definitely misses the next two league games against the Scarlets and Edinburgh after which there is a break while the Anglo-Welsh competition (mainly used for development purposes) kicks in, then it will be touch and go whether he makes the return clash against Leinster at the start of December and the Heineken double header against Biarritz.

Bearman was one of four Dragons players Warren Gatland and his group of Wales coaches were seriously looking at for next month's internationals against New Zealand, Samoa, Argentina and Australia – Dan Lydiate, Luke Charteris and Jason Tovey are the others.

He has been in outstanding form for the Dragons, also winning the Argus readers’ player-of-the-year trophy for the past two years and was wanted for Wales’ tour to North America at the end of last season, but wasn’t qualified then.

Better news for the Dragons is the return of Willis for the first time since the opening game of the season against Glasgow when he tore a calf muscle.

Admitting he had grown tired of being a ‘water boy’ at matches, he said, “I'm back and hoping to make a strong contribution,” also praising the efforts of Steve Jones in his absence. “He's been fantastic, taking on a leadership role and performing consistently with his little touches and distribution putting Luke Charteris in for his try last week. It puts pressure on me to perform.”

Watkins was due to return a few weeks ago after having a hip operation in the summer, but then suffered an abdominal strain, but he is now included for the first time since his return to Rodney Parade – against his former team.

New signing Palmer, a member of the Wales team in the Under-20 World Cup, played once for the Dragons – in the final game of the season against Leinster two years ago. He is a member of the current Blues squad and has been signed until mid-January while Davies is on a two-week trial.

Dragons squad for Scarlets: J Tovey, M Thomas, A Brew, T Riley, M Watkins, A Smith, R Fussell, J Arlidge, W Evans, D Lee, A Walker, H Gustafson, T Willis (captain), S Jones, P Bracken, G Robinson, R Sidoli, L Charteris, A Jones, H MacDonald, L Evans, D Lydiate, G Thomas, J Harris. Kick off 7.05pm.