THE true strength of the Newport squad will be tested this weekend after Newport Gwent Dragons' injury worries had a knock-on effect on the Black and Ambers.

The region have 15 players out of contention for their Heineken Cup clash with London Irish and have called up a number of players who have been on duty with Newport in recent weeks.

Back row Lewis Evans, scrum half Alex Walker, prop Gethin Robinson and wing Richard Fussell will all be at the Madejski Stadium rather than Aberavon's Talbot Athletic Ground.

The absence of Evans is particularly testing with Paul Williams, Andrew Coombs and Richard Dale already missing from their back row through injury. And young flanker/number eight Dai Ford has requested a permanent move back to Newbridge, a request that has reluctantly been accepted.

Competition for the matchday 22 wasn't exactly fierce with everybody who is available featuring and Newport, often a side who favour five forwards on the bench, forced to name four backs as replacements.

It is a situation that head coach Ian Hembrow could have done without given their poor Premiership campaign to date but he remains philosophical.

He said: "It does put a strain on our squad but call-ups are always a possibility and we aren't the only ones who suffer them.

"And we have been saying that we have a stronger squad all season long and now it is up to the players to step up to the mark. I do think we would have struggled to cope last year but there are still a number of options open to us.

"It is testing to lose a whole back row but we have flexibility with Matthew Veater able to drop back from lock and Richard Field performed superbly in his first start of the season."

The Black and Ambers deserved their 16-12 win over Bridgend last weekend but the head coach admits it was hardly a performance to set the pulse racing and is demanding an improvement tomorrow afternoon.

He said: "We were pleased with the amount of possession that we had but we just didn't put the points on the board. We had a good tempo but there wasn't the composure to go with it.

"Aberavon will be confident after a superb win against Cardiff and we will need to raise our performance from Bridgend.

"They may have lost a few players, notably Darren Ryan (the bullocking inside centre who left for Cardiff), but they remain a very dangerous side and we will need to be on our game.

"We played well and won there at the end of last season, but it was sunny and dry as opposed to the heavy conditions I expect this weekend.

"It is important that we play in the right areas and play the territorial game well, like we did in the second half of the game with Bridgend."

Newport: L Hathaway, W Kershaw-Naylor, N Wakley, S Williams, M Poole, D Griffiths, M Thomas, D Pattison, A Brown, I Evans, M Workman, A Frampton, M Veater, C Hill, R Field. Replacements: D Evans, M Leaman, T Organ, S Parry, J Dixon, M Hook, C Young.