Latest Northampton update on 'up in the air' Alex Mitchell absence

The wait-and-see game at Northampton over the neck injury that has sidelined Alex Mitchell is continuing as the Saints claim there is yet no definite timeline as to when he might play again.

Steve Borthwick’s first-choice England scrum-half was originally set to play against Bedford in Northampton’s final pre-season outing on September 13. He had been named in the starting team but was a no-show come kick-off and has since missed Northampton’s opening two Premiership matches.

He will again be marked absent when Harlequins visit cinch Stadium @ Franklin’s Gardens this Friday night in round three. Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson was vague after last Saturday’s win over Exeter about the Mitchell prognosis, saying: “He saw the specialist on Thursday and so we are hoping to get a bit more clarity on that in the next week or so.”

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Dowson was a bit more forthcoming with information at his midweek media briefing but still in the dark as regards a comeback date. He explained: “He has had scans, he has had some treatment and we are just waiting to see if that treatment is sufficient to get him going again.

“It’s wait and see at the moment. There is genuinely no timeline because it could be anything at the moment. It’s up in the air so it’s hard to make a short-term plan or a long-term plan when you don’t have that information.

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“But he is feeling a bit better on the back of some time off. I think he’s probably bored more than anything else, but he is also a bit frustrated because there is no timeline to work to.

“He came in one morning and he had a very sore neck. We obviously had the specialist look at it, and what you don’t want to do is mess around with it.”