DRAGONS boss Dean Ryan says a number of his Wales hopefuls are playing catch-up – but the festive derbies are a chance to climb the Six Nations pecking order.

The Rodney Parade region face their three Welsh rivals in the coming weeks with tomorrow's home clash against the Scarlets (kick-off 5.15pm) followed by a Boxing Day trip to Cardiff Blues and tussle with the Ospreys in Newport on the first weekend of January.

The Dragons provided five members of last year's Grand Slam-winning squad – lock Cory Hill, hooker Elliot Dee, back row forwards Aaron Wainwright and Ross Moriarty plus full-back Hallam Amos, who is now with the Blues.

Injury-permitting, they are likely to be in Wayne Pivac's first Six Nations squad and a number of their teammates are also pushing for selection.

Tighthead Leon Brown, back row forward Ollie Griffiths and fly-half Sam Davies featured in the uncapped game against the Barbarians last month while wing Ashton Hewitt was a reserve at Principality Stadium and 20-year-old back rower Taine Basham trained with the squad.

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Shining against their peers in intense derby tussles would give a timely nudge to Pivac and his assistants ahead of the Six Nations, which kicks off against Italy on February 1.

"Derbies are important. I don't think people select on the back of one weekend but they are important," said director of rugby Ryan.

"They are emotional games and you get straight comparisons, which is easier when selecting a squad.

"I don't think they are everything – form is something which you can look at over a period of time – but we are a side that has a lot of players coming from behind, so derby games are great to test where you are as an individual and also as a collective.

"However, Wayne will have a good view of where his side is and will probably take that over a longer period than a couple of weekends."

Dee and Wainwright made returns to Dragons action in the European Challenge Cup double-header against Worcester, while the second clash with the Warriors saw Hill return after 10 months out.

They have added international quality to a side that has enjoyed an encouraging start to life under Ryan, who succeeded Bernard Jackman in the summer.

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"We've always had a focus on trying to get the team in the right space for the run of derbies after the challenge of the World Cup and the challenge of me not understanding everybody," said Ryan.

"We're probably in as good a position as we could expect given some of the injuries we have got.

"We've had some good experiences together, some that have worked and some that have not worked, that have made us stronger."

The Dragons name their team at midday with Moriarty set to return from a post-World Cup virus.