NEWPORT Gwent Dragons openside Ollie Griffiths faces a battle to play again this season after undergoing surgery on a hamstring injury suffered while training with Wales sevens.

The 20-year-old from Newbridge was with the national squad last week ahead of the New Zealand leg of the World Series when he suffered the blow.

He saw a specialist on Monday and then went under the knife with the Dragons stating he faces “several months” of rehabilitation with their medical team.

That timeframe leaves Griffiths with a race against time to feature again this season with the European knockout stages taking place in April and the final Guinness Pro12 game on the first weekend of March at Zebre.

Strong-running Griffiths has enjoyed a breakthrough season at Rodney Parade making 11 appearances and sharing the 7 jersey with Nic Cudd, who is more of a defensive specialist.

His injury blow is likely to lead to James Benjamin, who himself enjoyed a Wales sevens call-up for the December tournament in South Africa, coming back into contention for the first team.

The 21-year-old from Rogerstone was ahead of Griffiths in the pecking order last season, making 16 appearances, but has featured just three times in 2015/16 with his last game the October trip to Leinster in the Pro12.

The Dragons have named a back row of Cudd, Lewis Evans and Taulupe Faletau for tonight’s trip to Sale with Ed Jackson chosen ahead of Nick Crosswell on the bench.