NEWPORT Gwent Dragons are entering the final furlongs of the season but after a schedule that has seen them play 28 times, one man wishes the summer break wasn’t on the horizon.

Adam Hughes will bring up a century of starts for the Rodney Parade region in this afternoon’s Guinness PRO12 clash against Zebre in Parma (kick-off 1.30pm) but it’s only his ninth outing of the campaign.

The 27-year-old wing/centre suffered a concussion in the pre-season friendly against Cardiff Blues in August and only made his return against Enisei-STM in mid-January.

After five months on the sidelines that had him fearing for his career, the wing/centre feels he is finally hitting his straps and wants to enjoy a strong run-in.

“It’s taken me a while to get back to full sharpness but I knew that it would,” he said. “I’ve had a few games and I felt that Ulster was my best.

“I am just happy to be back out there again and want to keep going and have a good end to the season.

“Judgement Day is coming up and everyone has an eye on that and wants to secure a place in the team to play the Scarlets while the Edinburgh game is huge, because we could go above them, and then there is the derby with Cardiff Blues in Caerphilly.

“There are some big games to come and everyone wants to be involved.”

And today’s fixture is another important encounter with the Dragons desperate to win on the road for the first time this season and end a miserable PRO12 away streak that stretches back to their win in Treviso in March, 2015.

Zebre sit on the bottom of the table and have won just two league games all season, although the second was a superb 25-22 success against champions Connacht last time out.

“Zebre proved that they are a good side last week,” he said. “Connacht probably got a bit over confident after making a good start and allowed Zebre to get their tails up.

“They are dangerous when that happens and will take advantage if we start throwing the ball around and get too loose. We need to stick to our game plan and earn the right to go wide.”

The Dragons haven’t won since Hughes made his return against Enisei but can take encouragement from their last outing against title-chasing Ulster, when the Irish province needed 10 late points in a 27-17 success.

“We all came off the field knowing that we gave it a good go, unlike against Leinster and Glasgow,” said Hughes, referring to humbling 54-22 and 47-17 defeats.

“We were disappointed to not get anything from the Ulster game but we weren’t disappointed with our effort.”

That application will be needed against their fired-up Italian hosts and Hughes will hope to toast his 100th start with a win – while he hopes it ends with him on the flank.

He will have 14 on his back but, along with fly-half Dorian Jones, is also an option as an emergency back-up for the Dragons’ sole fit scrum-half Charlie Davies.

Hughes said: “I did a session at 9 earlier in the week and filled in there against Gloucester and Cardiff Blues last season (when Sarel Pretorius was sin-binned), but the plan is definitely for Charlie to play the full 80 minutes!”

Hughes becomes the third player in the current squad to pass a ton of starts, following captain Lewis Evans and flanker Nic Cudd.

He made his debut against Cardiff Blues in 2010 and, after leaving in 2014 to play for Bristol and Exeter, returned to Rodney Parade last season.

“It means a lot to me,” he said. “When I left the Dragons a few seasons back I was really gutted that I didn’t get to this milestone, after hitting my 50th in my second season here.

“When I had the opportunity to come back it was something that I wanted to reach and now I am absolutely chuffed!

“I am still only 27 so I am looking to catch up with Lewis (who recently hit 150 starts) as I definitely want to push on and achieve more.”