NEWPORT Gwent Dragons are confident the injury suffered by Nick Crosswell is only a minor one after the New Zealander was forced off against the Scarlets but lock Andrew Coombs faces a delay in his comeback.

Back row forward Crosswell lasted less than two minutes at Rodney Parade after a blow to his right knee when defending inside the 22.

The 29-year-old received lengthy treatment before hobbling off and being replaced by Ed Jackson with the Dragons taking no risks.

Crosswell walked to the dead ball area and did some light running, a sign that the initial prognosis was not severe.

“I spoke to Nick after he went off and he said it was just a bone-on-bone collision,” said coach Shaun Connor. “He is hoping it won’t be too bad and the medical staff will reassess him on Monday.”

Coombs had been targeting a September return after a summer operation on the knee that he injured in the European Rugby Challenge Cup quarter-final win against Cardiff Blues in April.

However, the Wales international had to go back under the knife last week, missing the team photo, because of an infection.

The Dragons start preparations for their final friendly on Monday after being beaten 29-20 by the Scarlets on Friday.

They held a 20-5 lead early in the second half before being hit by 24 unanswered points to go down to a defeat to their western rivals.

The hosts used 38 players in an attempt to reward hard work on the training paddock. That played a part in their downfall but next Saturday’s friendly at Cardiff Blues, their last before the Guinness Pro12 opener at Connacht, should be a more stripped-down affair.

“It’s always going to be tough when you’ve got 30-odd players taking to the field,” said Connor.

“There were positives – our set piece was excellent – but we probably could have got a better mix to our game, especially from lineout where we didn’t play with a lot of width.

“Then we struggled to get territory in the second half and when we did get the ball we coughed it up and couldn’t get any continuity going.

“We’ve said all along it’s all about preparing for Connacht and we will go into next week with fewer players and it will be a team that may play in Galway, giving them a bit more game time.

“We are very pleased with the strength in depth in the squad and selection for the Blues game and then Connacht will be tough. The pleasing thing is that if players don’t perform we have others who can step in.”