But the Englishman, who only took charge of the Welsh region in the summer, has pledged to ensure the Dragons are as competitive as they were last week, when they notched a bonus point 31-17 win over Castres Olympique at Rodney Parade in Pool 1.

“We tried to pick a squad for the Castres game that was competitive in the core with opportunities around it. We will probably look to do the same in Russia,” Ryan told the Dragons’ website.

“For this group to get better, they need to understand, week to week, we expect to win, irrespective of who is picked and who is playing. That needs to be a pressure that we bring with us.

“By the time we get to the third and fourth round of the European competition, I will understand this squad a lot more and know who is on the front line.”

Dragons’ Rugby World Cup trio – Wales flanker Aaron Wainwright, No.8 Ross Moriarty and hooker Elliot Dee – returned to domestic training this week, but they won’t be seen in European action until next month at the earliest.

“I have only met our World Cup guys; I haven’t seen them on the pitch,” Ryan explained. “We will probably get a couple off the bench in Round 3 and some starts in Round 4.

“We all saw from the World Cup the calibre of those guys, so I’m looking forward to them coming back and pushing for places.

“But when you have got some young lads like Taine Basham, it gets difficult. Ollie Griffiths has been playing really well for us [as well]. That’s quite a back-row contest going on.

“By the end of Round 4, I need to know where we are at, what does our best squad look like.”

Dragons director of rugby Dean Ryan has promised to change a winning line-up for his side’s European Rugby Challenge Cup Round 2 tie against Enisei-STM in Krasnodar on Friday as he seeks to discover his strongest squad.