England lock Courtney Lawes is set to miss the first few weeks of rugby's Six Nations Championship because of an ankle injury, the Northampton second-rower's club coach Jim Mallinder said on Sunday.
Mallinder, speaking after Northampton's 20-9 European Cup win away to Welsh side Ospreys in Swansea, said Lawes would undergo surgery on Monday.
The coach indicated Lawes would miss England's Six Nations opener away to Wales in Cardiff on February 6 and their Twickenham encounter with Italy the following week.
Lawes' absence would deprive England coach Stuart Lancaster of both of his first-choice locks, with Wasps' Joe Launchbury ruled out of the entire Six Nations after undergoing neck surgery.
The 25-year-old Lawes, who missed the Ospreys match, has not played since before Christmas when he suffered the injury against Leicester.
"Courtney, unfortunately, has not recovered from his ankle injury," Mallinder said. "He will be going in for a little operation on Monday.
"He has got a little bit of bone that he just needs clearing out, so he is going to miss the first few weeks of the Six Nations, as well as missing next week (when Northampton face Racing Metro).
"He would be expected to get back (playing) while the Six Nations is still going on.
"It is a blow for us because we haven't got him for next week, and it is a blow for him and England because he is a key player."
After the first two rounds, the Six Nations takes a break before England face Ireland in Dublin on March 1.
Lawes' career has been beset by injuries, with shoulder, shin, knee, groin and elbow problems restricting him to 36 England caps since he made his Test debut six years ago.
Lancaster is due to announce his Six Nations squad on Wednesday.
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