NEWPORT Gwent Dragons winger Ashton Hewitt is still suffering headaches after nearly five months on the sidelines with concussion.

The 22-year-old from Newport hasn’t played since the New Year’s Day defeat to the Ospreys at Rodney Parade and head coach Kingsley Jones has stressed the Dragons will not take any risks when it comes to his welfare.

The livewire winger was selected by Wales for the Six Nations but had to withdraw from the squad and is desperate to get back out in the middle to earn a place for the summer tour to face Tonga and Samoa.

However, Hewitt will sit out Friday’s Guinness PRO12 clash at Edinburgh as will Wales speedster Hallam Amos, who still isn’t 100 per cent fit following the shoulder injury he suffered when attempting to score against Australia in November.

“It’s a very sensitive thing and we need to make sure a player is correct,” said Jones. “Some players go through the tests, pass them and still have symptoms with headaches after training.

“All we can do is wait until the player is symptom-free. Ashton wakes up with a slight headache, it’s not that he is in pain but he has to be symptom-free.

“That can take a while and we have seen [Dragons wing] Adam Hughes has come back and lots of other players have, but it’s a sensitive situation and has to be right. We’ve got to make sure that Ashton is 100 per cent comfortable and feeling great.

“He is all right and working hard in the environment every day. It’s not like he is sat at home twiddling his thumbs – he is fit and able to take part in training but hasn’t been able to back up full days of training.”

The Dragons have a raft of fresh injuries for Scotland, adding to the long-term absentees Nick Macleod, Amos and Hewitt.

“We have a bare 26 really but we still have a good team to go with,” said Kingsley Jones. “The backs that we will select are the backs that we have fit.”

Fly-half Dorian Jones and centre/wing Adam Warren have had surgery after tricep and toe injuries respectively in the Judgement Day loss to the Scarlets.

Tighthead Lloyd Fairbrother (knee), loosehead Sam Hobbs (back) and centre Tyler Morgan (ribs) are out of the clash at Myreside.

Sarel Pretorius (hamstring) and Tavis Knoyle (wrist) are still sidelined so the Dragons will hand a debut to teenage scrum-half Owain Leonard as back-up to Charlie Davies.

The 19-year-old was travelling reserve for the PRO12 clashes at Zebre and against the Scarlets, with Jones stressing the need for patience.

“He needed to be in and around the squad,” said Jones. “He has trained well with us and we are going to give him an opportunity off the bench.

“He has a lot of strengths and moves the ball really well. He is a nice passer of the ball and organiser and sometimes you just have to have a look at a player.”

Wing Pat Howard and full-back/fly-half Geraint Rhys Jones are fit and able to bolster the three-quarters after sitting out the loss to the Scarlets.

The Dragons would climb above the Scots with victory and Friday is their last chance to avoid a whitewash of away defeats across all competitions in 2016/17.