EVERY little helps and Newport Gwent Dragons aren’t exactly helping themselves on that front this season.

Wins are the crucial factor in a side’s final league position but the little extras are vital, especially if the Dragons are to keep alive their slim hopes of catching the Scarlets.

Of course all teams have their ‘if only’ moments but the Rodney Parade region have really been racking up the wasted opportunities.

Last Saturday’s win against Edinburgh was much-needed but the Gunners were so poor that it really should have been a five-pointer.

Yet the Dragons failed to take their chances and could manage just two tries – a problem that has blighted their campaign to date.

Alarmingly their only four-try bonus points have come against Cavalieri Prato in the Amlin Challenge Cup and the only other time they have crossed the whitewash more than twice in a game was in their 50-24 drubbing by Treviso.

The Dragons average a try a game in the RaboDirect Pro12, the worst in the league, and have endured six tryless games in 14 fixtures so far.

Last season they averaged 2.14, fourth in the league, and endured one tryless fixture out of 22.

It’s not just four-try bonus points that the Dragons have missed out on – the games at Munster and the Scarlets should have yielded an extra for being within seven points while the lack of a killer touch saw golden opportunities slip away for victory in both encounters with Glasgow, the fixture in Connacht and the home meeting with the Scarlets.

That’s 13 points that have slipped through their fingers, a total that would have put them up to eight in the table and within a point of the Scarlets with a game in hand.

But last weekend’s success at Edinburgh did clear a bit of gloom and it has got the tenth-placed Dragons eyeing a late season charge up the table.

Leaping above the Scottish side and Treviso is definitely possible while catching the Scarlets is unlikely but could happen if the West Walians endure a stinking end to the campaign.

If the Dragons are to enjoy an ascent then they need to start putting teams to the sword and some of the signs from last Saturday were encouraging. Centre Andy Tuilagi has shed a fair few pounds and can provide some go-forward, Adam Hughes ran some lovely lines off his wing and the running threat of wing Aled Brew and full-back Martyn Thomas is well-documented.

Throw in the rapid pace of Tonderai Chavhanga (who may return from injury against Munster next weekend) and the Dragons could start to cure their white line fever, particularly with the weather getting better and ground getting harder.

A favourite phrase of former coach Paul Turner was that “we left points on the table tonight”. his successor Darren Edwards won’t want to be uttering those same words in this season’s run-in.