DRAGONS star Aaron Wainwright says Wales must start fast to give themselves a shot at victory over England at Twickenham this weekend.

Warren Gatland’s men produced one of the greatest fightbacks in Six Nations history as they battled back from 27-0 down to narrowly lose 27-26 to Scotland at the Principality Stadium last Saturday.

Man of the match Wainwright was a driving force in the comeback, but he knows there can be no repeat of the slow start this Saturday (kick-off 4.45pm).

“A game of two halves sums it up perfectly and with another five minutes we probably would have got the win,” said the 26-year-old, who was also a second half try scorer in the capital.

“It wasn’t the start we wanted but we showed what we can do when we start putting some stuff together.

“If we can replicate that second-half performance and play like that for the full 80 it will be exciting. We have to make sure it doesn’t take a first half like that to get into it.

“It was encouraging how we kept fighting and put ourselves in with a chance to win. That’s going to give us momentum for next week.

“We need to be more accurate. Going for the corner, with a tap play move we weren’t accurate enough, we didn’t keep the ball,” added Wainwright, who last month agreed a new contract to stay with the Dragons.

“Whether it’s execution or role knowledge, we need to fix that and doing it from the first whistle will be key. We can’t start like that next week.

“The boys coming off the bench made a huge impact and changed momentum. Maybe first game nerves played a part, but we can’t afford those inaccuracies.”

Wales will be boosted by the return of George North and Will Rowlands for the clash with England, but Sam Costelow remains an injury doubt.

It was thought the Wales outside-half had suffered a concussion during the defeat against Scotland when he left the field after just 36 minutes, but attack coach Alex King has confirmed that was not the case. Costelow is now being treated for a neural neck issue, and will have to go through the relevant medical protocols if he is to be passed fit this weekend's clash at Twickenham.

“The good news is it wasn't a concussion but he’s being assessed for a neural issue on his neck,” said King. “So, it’s a positive thing it wasn’t a concussion.

“He's up for selection but it’s a question whether he gets through his medical protocols.”

But Wales will have the experienced North and former Dragons lock Rowlands available for selection.

“Fingers crossed, yeah,” said King when asked whether North would be fit to face England. “He’s training well. The squad is getting announced later this week. It’s good to have him back.

“He had a great World Cup and his relationship with Nick (Tompkins) in that midfield was one of the highlights of that campaign. It’s frustrating he wasn’t around last week, but I thought Owen (Watkin) had a good game and it’s good to have some competition for places.”