GAVIN Thomas is a man on a mission – he’s out to put one over on the region which decided not to retain him at the end of last season.

Tomorrow night he lines up against the Scarlets for his new team Newport Gwent Dragons in a potential Magners League derby firecracker.

The Wales flanker, capped 22 times, spent five seasons with the Scarlets but was controversially released after being sidelined for months with a serious Achilles tendon injury.

Dragons head coach Paul Turner decided to take Thomas on and he signed a one-year contract. He has already proved that not only is he over his injury but remains one of the best openside flankers in the country.

He has produced a series of rousing performances, contributing greatly to the Dragons’ vastly improved form and consistently earns praise from Turner.

Wales No 8 and Gloucester captain Gareth Delve paid him a big compliment after their recent Heineken Cup clash when he said he was “a pest all night”.

Thomas admits, “It definitely wasn’t the best when I left them and I’m looking forward to going back to the club where I spent five years. Most of the players there are friends of mine and if the Dragons perform well there it will show we are going in the right direction.

“Most of that business when I left there has gone now and I don’t feel I’ve got a point to prove, but I’m enjoying it with the Dragons and this is the next step for us because they are performing well.

“They’ll be confident after winning at London Irish, but there is so much to play for this week. We want to finish in that third European place at least, it would be cracking if we could do that.

“We can’t go without too many more players getting injured, but it’s going to be close so these head-to-head games are vital.

“It should be brilliant and I think we’ve got a good chance of winning, we have scored a lot of tries.”

But Thomas warns the Dragons that they must get out of their habit of making mistakes in the second half, allowing games to slip from their grasp – like the one at Gloucester while they even went off the boil after the interval in their victory over Glasgow last week.

“We’ve been weaker in the second half in the majority of our games, partly because of the lack of composure when we should have been more steady,” he said.

“I don’t think the Scarlets lack of form before the Heineken Cup will last long so it’s going to be a severe test. Most games away are difficult and you’ve got to be at your best if you’re going to win them.

“It’s going to be a real test for us, but if we can play to the best of our ability and get our accuracy right it’s going to be close. Training has gone really well getting the game plan and the tactics right – the pride will come.”

The Scarlets show just one change from the team which rocked London Irish, promising centre Jon Davies standing down after a hip injury, replaced by Rob Higgitt. Former Dragons prop Rhys Thomas is out for three months with ruptured ligaments in his big toe, but centre Gareth Maule, another former Dragon, is a replacement.

Scarlets: D Evans, M Jones (captain), S Lamont, R Higgitt, L Williams, S Jones, M Roberts, I Thomas, M Rees, D Manu, D Day, L Reed, S Easterby, D Lyons, D Jones. Replacements: P John, K Owens, V Cooper, R Pugh, T Knoyle, G Maule, R Priestland