Leicester say Croft injury not serious

Leicester boss Richard Cockerill has moved to allay any injury fears surrounding Tigers’ England captaincy candidate Tom Croft. The back-row forward, who is widely viewed as a front-runner for England leadership duties in this season’s RBS 6 Nations Championship, will miss today’s Aviva Premiership derby against Welford Road visitors Northampton.

“Crofty took a bit of a knock at Gloucester last weekend, so we’ve kept him out,” Cockerill said. “It is nothing serious.” Leicester currently have the worst Premiership home record of any team in the league, losing three and drawing one from four previous starts this term. But their recent form in all competitions is strong, including a win on Gloucester soil and successive Heineken Cup victories over Treviso and Ulster.

Sale chief Steve Diamond takes his team to Bath tomorrow with the Sharks still hurting from blowing a sizeable lead and losing at home against Exeter seven days ago. “After our Exeter defeat, what is certain is that it won’t need Steve Diamond or Tony Hanks [Sale coach] to motivate the team this weekend,” Diamond said. Exeter entertain Worcester today and, tomorrow, Harlequins will chase a tenth successive league victory when they visit Wasps, while second-placed Saracens host London Irish.