England back-rower Croft suffered a shoulder injury in the defeat by South Africa last Saturday, but Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill said: “Everyone else has come back in good shape and they’re back in training with us.
“The guys who have been here through the autumn period have done a good job to keep us up in the top places in the table, that is very important for us, and now we’re into another important phase of the season with London Irish away on Saturday then the back-to-back European games.”
Toby Flood, Dan Cole and Ben Youngs have returned from England duties, while Geordan Murphy (Ireland), Alesana Tuilagi (Samoa), Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy), and Argentina trio Marcos Ayerza, Lucas Amorosino and Horacio Agulla are also back at Oval Park.
Fly-half Flood, who started all four England games in the autumn, said: “It’s good to be back. The guys have been in decent form here over the last few weeks so everyone will be looking forward to taking that on.”
Tigers return to action at London Irish on Saturday in a game which pits second against third in the Aviva Premiership table, then have two fixtures against Perpignan in the Heineken Cup, with the home leg at Welford Road on Sunday, December 19 (3pm).
The Christmas fixture is a home game against Sale Sharks on December 27 (2pm), followed by the trip to Exeter Chiefs on January 2 and then the local derby against Northampton Saints on January 8 (5pm).
Tickets for all home fixtures are available now from the Tigers ticket office. Click here to book online.
Or call in at Welford Road or phone the hotline on 0844 856 1880. Quote 'Christmas Cracker' this week and you can collect a free gift with every ticket purchase as part of our countdown to Christmas.
