NEWPORT Gwent Dragons’ midfield injury curse continues with Ashley Smith set for a lengthy lay-off after suffering a broken jaw.

The influential 27-year-old went down after a sickening blow to the head when he attempted a chop tackle in fourth minute of the comprehensive 69-17 European Rugby Challenge Cup win against Bucharest at Rodney Parade.

There was relief when Smith, who missed the start of the season with a foot injury, was able to walk from the field but hospital scans confirmed that he will need surgery.

All of the Dragons’ specialist centres have endured spells on the sidelines this season, forcing them to use wings Matthew Pewtner and Tom Prydie and fly-half Dorian Jones in midfield.

Prydie moved to 13 against the Wolves and scored a hat-trick alongside Ross Wardle, who missed the start of the campaign as he recovered from ruptured knee ligaments.

The pair could join forces again against Zebre a week on Sunday, although Jack Dixon has been working his way towards full fitness with Cross Keys in the British and Irish Cup following wrist surgery and Tyler Morgan and Pat Leach are nearing their returns from knee injuries.

But the injury to Smith, a key presence both on the field and the training paddock, is a blow ahead of a crunch period of the season.

“Ashley is a 12 who brings a lot to the team, he is a leader and is influential in the group,” said head coach Kingsley Jones. “It’s a blow for him and the Dragons and I hope he gets over it quickly.”

The injury marred a convincing win against the Wolves that means the Dragons top Pool Three going into their January clashes against Newcastle and Stade Francais.

They ran in a regional record 12 tries – flanker Nic Cudd, Wardle, wing Hallam Amos, scrum-half Jonathan Evans, Prydie (3), hooker Rhys Thomas, lock Andrew Coombs, full-back Geraint Rhys Jones and scrum-half Luc Jones getting on the scoresheet – but there is still plenty of work to do ahead of crunch Guinness Pro12 games against Zebre and Cardiff Blues.

“It wasn’t perfect but the players can take plenty of confidence from the Bucharest games,” said Jones.

“The negative was that at times it was a little bit too easy and we did make errors that other teams will punish us for.

“The start of the game was poor with inaccuracies at the lineout and with an exit (that led to a Wolves try from a charge down of Jonathan Evans’ clearance kick).

“That needs to improve because we can’t afford to give seven-point starts at home but the players dealt with it well and responded with a really good try within a minute and 10 seconds of Bucharest dropping the restart by being direct and playing with good body height.

“Then for a 20-minute period we played some really good rugby against Bucharest, who have frustrated a lot of sides."