DIRECTOR of rugby Lyn Jones is delighted to be faced by plenty of selection headaches for Newport Gwent Dragons’ Euro derby against Cardiff Blues on Saturday after a memorable win in Treviso.

The region won at the Stadio Monigo for the first time in the league and tries by scrum-half Jonathan Evans, left wing Hallam Amos and right wing Tom Prydie (2) ensured they bagged a first league five-point haul on their travels since beating Glasgow in September, 2004.

The Dragons had to defend stoutly for large periods of the game against a fired-up Treviso that have beaten the Ospreys and Blues on Italian soil this season but dug deep for the spoils.

The 32-17 win saw them climb above Cardiff Blues into ninth in the Guinness Pro12 ahead of Saturday’s crunch European Rugby Challenge Cup quarter-final clash with the men from the capital at Rodney Parade.

The Dragons are sweating on the availability of influential loosehead prop Boris Stankovich, who is rated as 50/50 because of a calf niggle that forced him to withdraw from the side to face Treviso, while centre Ashley Smith will not be considered because of concussion.

Nonetheless Jones says the Treviso exploits have left him with some tough, but welcome, decisions for the derby.

“It was just the performance that we were looking for moving onto the Blues game,” he said. “We looked organised and tidy while we showed plenty of character.

“That was a good Treviso side who are strong at home but we pulled out all the stops, showing fight and determination when so often we have folded.

“We’ve now got a lot of question marks over the side for the quarter-final and there is going to be an edge in training, which is what players want.

“We’ve put a lot of work in on the training field and it’s coming through now. We’ve got six to eight games left this season and will need to keep building.”

The Dragons are not considering Smith for the derby because of the blow to the head he suffered against Ulster on March 8.

“It’s disappointing because he’s a key player for us with a huge amount of experience but it’s not a hard decision and we want him to take things easy,” said Jones.

The Blues have their own call to make because fly-half/full-back Rhys Patchell spent Friday night in a Belfast hospital after being clattered in the head at a maul by Ulster’s Nick Williams, an incident that has led to the powerhouse number eight being cited.