JACK Dixon and Ross Wardle are set to help Newport Gwent Dragons attempt to retain their Singha Premiership 7s title.

The powerhouse centres are in contention for the squad for next Friday's Welsh leg that pits them against the Ospreys, Scarlets and Cardiff Blues in the capital.

The Dragons will field a number of players who helped them stun Wasps in the final at the Twickenham Stoop in 2015, notably captain and former Wales 7s international Geraint Rhys Jones and Aviva Premiership 7s player of the year Elliot Frewen of Newport RFC.

There will be burgeoning talent in the squad – with rapid winger Lloyd Lewis looking to impress after playing for Wales in the HSBC World Series tournaments in Wellington and Sydney last season – but Dixon and Wardle would provide first-team experience.

Dixon, 21, is looking to build towards a big season after missing most of 2015/16 with a career-threatening kidney injury suffered on his return from Wales' World Cup training camp while Wardle, 25, found chances hard to come by after Adam Warren enjoyed an impressive debut season in the Dragons' midfield.

It is likely that both would be forwards in the shortened format with the champions ready for some fine tuning at their Ystrad Mynach training base on Monday and Wednesday before heading for the capital.

"We've got an experienced seven or eight players and will try and blood some newbies as well," said Nick Wakley, the Ebbw Vale backs coach who has been making a name for himself on the sevens circuit.

"We are going to stick with the same approach as the last two seasons and my history with Samurai 7s, bringing invitational teams together, gives me a bit of a leg up in terms of having a game plan that players can slot into easily.

"A lot of these are full-time professionals so they are very well conditioned and are working hard in pre-season, so that makes it better still."

The Dragons, who will finalise their squad for the Arms Park early next week, play the Ospreys (7.25pm), Cardiff Blues (8.20pm) and Scarlets (8.50pm) with the aim of making finals day at Coventry's Ricoh Arena on Sunday, August 7.