NEWPORT Gwent Dragons' midfield injury curse has struck again with centre Pat Leach suffering a relapse of his knee injury, writes Chris Kirwan.

The 29-year-old made his first appearance of the season against London Welsh a fortnight ago and was a try scorer in the shock Guinness Pro12 victory against Leinster in Dublin.

But Leach, who dislocated his right knee cap and suffered cartilage damage against Northampton in pre-season, was a late withdrawal from the team that lost 30-25 to Connacht at Rodney Parade last Sunday because of a knee problem.

Director of rugby Lyn Jones said: "He is walking up and down stairs so we expect his recovery to be quicker than last time, although I've no idea how long that will be.

"It's a shame because Pat played so well against Leinster and we need people like him out there. It makes life difficult for us to perform consistently and be the threat in attack that we want to be."

It leaves the Dragons down to their last two specialist centres in Ashley Smith and Jack Dixon for Sunday's trip to bottom club Zebre.

Ross Wardle is out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury, Tyler Morgan is in Wales camp and has seen a specialist about a knee injury while Ebbw Vale's South African centre Carl Meyer, an unused replacement against Connacht, does not have a visa for a fixture in Italy.

Wing/full-back Tom Prydie did well as a makeshift centre last autumn and is likely to be the back-up in Parma while wings Matthew Pewtner and Hallam Amos, who has been released from Six Nations duty for this weekend, have previously played 13.

The Dragons will be without fly-half/full-back Jason Tovey after he twisted his left ankle in the defeat to Connacht but he should be back for next weekend's home clash with Ulster.

It is likely that lock and captain Rynard Landman will join him on the sidelines as the South African has a Pro12 disciplinary hearing in Dublin on Friday following his red card for an elbow.

His replacement as skipper is also up in the air as his second row partner Andrew Coombs, who was club captain last season, is doubtful because of a back spasm.

"We've got a lot of leaders in the group – Andrew Coombs, Cory Hill, Rhys Thomas, James Thomas – so we've got plenty of options but we need to pick a team first," said Jones.

Lock Ian Gough has a virus and is a doubt but loosehead Phil Price, wing Aled Brew and full-back Lee Byrne are still sideline