NEWPORT Gwent Dragons threequarter Nathan Brew is out until December at the earliest and has not been included in the squad for the Heineken Cup which starts later this month.

Brew goes into hospital on Thursday for an operation on a groin injury which has troubled him this season and has prevented him from playing.

The Wales wing or centre has seen the same surgeon who operated on Shane Williams and treated Brew's Dragons team-mate Ceri Sweeney.

He has recommended an operation and because Brew will miss the first two European matches against Castres and Sale later this month and would struggle to make December's back-to-back fixtures with Munster he has been left out of the Heineken Cup squad.

"The initial diagnosis was rest and he had scans and followed medical advice," said Jim McCreedy, the Dragons rugby manager. "But now, with groin injuries becoming more prevalent and more in depth work being done, Nathan will have an operation which should help resolve the situation."

Brew also damaged an ankle last season which restricted him to just two appearances in the final 11. He last played for the Dragons in mid-March.

Also left out of the Heineken Cup squad is centre Steve Winn, who has not featured at all this season. The Dragons have Sione Tuipulotu and Jon Bryant at inside centre plus Ceri Sweeney who occupied the role with great success against Leicester last Friday.

Prop Chris Anthony, yet to play this season, wing Richard Fussell, and hookers Steve Jones and Kieran Crawford are all expected to be fit for Europe and have been included in the Heineken Cup squad.

Anthony had a shoulder operation at the end of last season which has taken longer to recover than expected, but has been doing weight training and moves on to contact work this week.

He will return via the Premiership and should be fit for Europe which would help lift the weight off Rhys Thomas, who has played in every game this season.

"We can't speak too highly of Rhys. He has been the mainstay of the pack and he should have fought his way into the Wales reckoning," said McCreedy.

Fussell, who damaged a shoulder in the opening game in Glasgow, ought be back in a fortnight, along with Jones after injections in both knees and Crawford following a shoulder scan.

Every team competing in Europe has to submit 36 names including ten front row forwards.

To bolster their limited front row resources the Dragons have included four non-regional players - Bedwas prop John Salter, Cross Keys and Newport prop Ian George and Newport hookers Andrew Brown and Leighton Jones.

Also included is Newport wing Gareth Chapman who made one full appearance and three as a replacement for the Dragons last season.