Six Nations 2015: England duo Brad Barritt and Geoff Parling remain doubtful for Wales clash
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Your support makes all the difference.England have refused to rule Brad Barritt and Geoff Parling out of their RBS 6 Nations opener against Wales on Friday week.
Barritt and Parling are being treated for the knee ligament strains suffered on European club duty last week and head coach Stuart Lancaster admits they face a race against time to be fit for the Millennium Stadium showdown.
"We expect them back sooner rather than later, but the clock is ticking," Lancaster said.
More definitive news on Tom Wood and Kyle Eastmond, who are nursing respective ankle and shoulder injuries, should emerge by the end of the week with both players due to be assessed over the next 24 hours.
Luther Burrell is progressing through the concussion return to play protocols and is on course to train fully in Friday's full contact session at Pennyhill Park, Lancaster confirmed at the Six Nations launch in south west London.
"I don't want to commit on Tom and Kyle because it very much rests on what the specialists say. Tom's made good progress and with Kyle we'll have to wait and see," Lancaster said.
"At the moment Luther is ticking the boxes on the return to play and is on course to train on Friday."
The positive outlook on Barritt and Parling will come as a relief to England, who were braced for the worst amid reports the duo would be added to the growing list of players ruled out of the entire Six Nations.
Owen Farrell's Championship involvement was on Tuesday ended by a knee injury and he joins Ben Morgan and Joe Launchbury in being unable to play any part, while major doubts hang over the participation of Manu Tuilagi and Courtney Lawes.
"Geoff and Brad are in pretty good shape. We don't anticipate their injuries to take any longer than a couple of weeks to heal," Lancaster said.
"We'll see how they go over the next 24 hours, but we're pretty optimistic on them.
"We don't necessarily expect them to miss the first two games, but the clock is ticking for the Wales game and I wouldn't rule them out of Italy a week later."
Lancaster stated that all players must prove their fitness in time to take part in training on Sunday and Monday with the team announced on Wednesday.
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