NEWPORT Gwent Dragons duo Carl Meyer and Pat Howard will miss Saturday’s European Challenge Cup clash at Worcester following bangs to the head against Leinster last weekend.

Full-back Meyer is still suffering the after-effects of a concussion that forced him to leave the field during the first half of the Welsh region’s 28-15 defeat in Dublin.

Fellow South African Howard scored one of the Dragons’ two tries at the RDS before being on the wrong end of a heavy collision in the closing stages of the Guinness Pro12 fixture.

“They’re not so great,” said head coach Kingsley Jones when asked how the two were. “Carl isn’t going to be included this week. He’s okay, he’s around the place, but he’s still got symptoms.

“Pat is coming on okay. He will probably be running by Saturday but, again, he hasn’t been able to take any part in anything.

“We have five huge games with this one, Worcester again, the derbies and then Treviso at home.

“They are huge games for us and we have to be careful with what we do with our squad.”

Meanwhile, prop Craig Mitchell also sits out the Pool 3 showdown but is expected to get game time in the British & Irish Cup as he continues his recovery from an Achilles problem.

That means Leon Brown, who made his Dragons debut in the Anglo-Welsh Cup tie away to Leicester and started against the Scarlets in the Pro12, is set to feature at Sixways.

“Craig is on the way to recovery,” added Jones, whose side are bidding for a second win in this season’s competition. “He’ll probably get some time in the B&I Cup, so that’s good news for him.

“It’s a persistent Achilles problem really and he’s had some time off his feet with different exercises.

“He’s feeling a lot better and he trained well yesterday.”

On Brown, he continued: “I’m hoping to introduce Leon Brown to the group. It’s an opportunity for us to get Leon involved, not just to throw him in.

“He’s shown in what he’s done in the couple of minutes he has had for us, and in training, that he is close to it.

“We’re going to back ourselves and involve him in the next fortnight, but having said that you will see Brok Harris as well.

“I think Leon has got a big future, we’ve just got to manage that right.

“It’s a position where at 25 you’re just taking your ‘L’ plates off, so he’s shown how good he is at 20.

“He came on against Leicester and was excellent against two international players, and he started the week after against the Scarlets and did well for 50 minutes.

“We feel that these games, giving him 30 minutes at a time and bringing him into it, is good for him.

“We’ll just have to measure how quickly he makes those advances as we go along.”