NEWPORT Gwent Dragons need to secure a European quarter-final to salvage their season, says flanker James Thomas.

The Dragons currently top Pool Three of the European Rugby Challenge Cup and five match points from their remaining games against Newcastle and Stade Francais should be enough to earn knockout rugby.

And if they beat both the Falcons this afternoon and the Parisians then they would play a last-eight encounter at Rodney Parade in April.

The Dragons have qualified through group stages just twice in their history, in the 2007 Challenge Cup when they went on to beat Brive in the quarters and lose to Clermont Auvergne and in 2010 when they were beaten by Gloucester in the last four of the LV= Cup.

The competition provides an escape from their struggles in the Guinness Pro12 – only the Italian pair of Treviso and Zebre are beneath them – and gives a chance for the Dragons to make 2014/15 a campaign to remember.

"Getting out of the group into the quarter-finals is a chance to have something to look back on as a big plus rather than just the negatives that we have had in the league, because we are not where we want to be," said Thomas.

"It's a big challenge for us to win these two group games to be in a good position for the quarters.

"Newcastle play a different style to what we are used to in the Pro12 but we have played them once (when the Falcons won 30-26 at Rodney Parade) and have seen what they have got to offer."

The Challenge Cup has already provided Thomas with an unforgettable memory at Stade Francais when he was an early replacement in the stunning bonus point win against the Top 14 big guns.

"I had only just sat down on the bench and all of a sudden Andrew Coombs was coming off," said Thomas, who has 17 regional appearances when he expected to be at Bedwas for most of the season.

"I jumped straight into the game and it was a great experience, one that I will remember for a long time."

The blindside will hope that the 80 minutes at Kingston Park proves to be just as historic.