IF you are a Newport Gwent Dragons fan the best thing you can do for the rest of this season is batten down the hatches, close your eyes and wait for it all to end.

And then open them in the knowledge that a host of new players of a better standard than the current ones will arrive next season.

And work will also start on redeveloping Rodney Parade from the decaying ground it is now into a new £40m stadium, with a whole lot more on site as well.

The Dragons can hardly expect anything from their remaining games against the Ospreys twice and Leinster twice and on the basis of last Friday's awful home defeat by bottom team Connacht they could be facing a cricket score at the Liberty Stadium this Friday.

The Ospreys may not be all they are cracked up to be with their coach Lyn Jones under some pressure considering most of the Wales Grand Slam team and some mega stars from New Zealand are at his disposal.

A near full strength Ospreys side lost against a Munster team missing many leading players, so all can't be well there either.

But at least Jones has got a string of top class players in his squad whereas the Dragons can barely field a recognisable line-up.

Shorn of current internationals, hit by injuries and lacking class it's no wonder they are at the bottom of the pile.

And for those who are starting to criticise Dragons coach Paul Turner I would say give him a team and then let's judge.

But sticking fingers in the dyke, putting sticking plaster over gaping holes is no basis on which to judge anything.

Hopefully, the signing of a few New Zealanders and some from Wales who are clearly better than the present bunch should give a lift while a redeveloped ground should provide a further boost.

Until then the best advice would be to pray!