With strength in depth so important during the autumn international period, Leicester Tigers coach Pat Howard is closely monitoring the recovery from injury of several members of his squad.
He already knows, however, that he will be without England and Lions centre Ollie Smith for some time after he picked up a knee ligament problem in the first half of last weekend's 21-17 Heineken Cup win over Cardiff Blues at the Millennium Stadium.
"We are hoping that Ollie's injury is a little bit better than first thought," said Howard. "It is still going to be a good month or two months out, but we will know more in another couple of days when the inflammation goes down further."
Howard said he had "one or two" other injury concerns before he could finalise his team for Saturday's Guinness Premiership clash with Worcester at Welford Road, while he is also without England men Martin Corry, Ben Kay, Julian White, Lewis Moody, George Chuter and Andy Goode, plus Ireland's Geordan Murphy.
Prop Alex Moreno is back in contention after his recovery from a calf injury, while back rowers Henry Tuilagi and Tom Croft are also approaching full fitness. Tuilagi suffered a hamstring problem during a brief outing as a replacement at Bath back in early September, while Croft fractured a bone in his ankle during the opening-day victory over Sale Sharks.
Props Marcos Ayerza and Martin Castrogiovanni are both available this weekend before they join up with national squads for the autumn international programme.
He already knows, however, that he will be without England and Lions centre Ollie Smith for some time after he picked up a knee ligament problem in the first half of last weekend's 21-17 Heineken Cup win over Cardiff Blues at the Millennium Stadium.
"We are hoping that Ollie's injury is a little bit better than first thought," said Howard. "It is still going to be a good month or two months out, but we will know more in another couple of days when the inflammation goes down further."
Howard said he had "one or two" other injury concerns before he could finalise his team for Saturday's Guinness Premiership clash with Worcester at Welford Road, while he is also without England men Martin Corry, Ben Kay, Julian White, Lewis Moody, George Chuter and Andy Goode, plus Ireland's Geordan Murphy.
Prop Alex Moreno is back in contention after his recovery from a calf injury, while back rowers Henry Tuilagi and Tom Croft are also approaching full fitness. Tuilagi suffered a hamstring problem during a brief outing as a replacement at Bath back in early September, while Croft fractured a bone in his ankle during the opening-day victory over Sale Sharks.
Props Marcos Ayerza and Martin Castrogiovanni are both available this weekend before they join up with national squads for the autumn international programme.
