Jonathan Joseph doubt for England's clash with Wales

England centre Jonathan Joseph has emerged as a doubt for this Saturday's crunch World Cup clash with Wales.

Joseph suffered a "knock to his chest" according to England coach Andy Farrell, during England's 35-11 victory over Fiji in their Pool A opener at Twickenham last Friday.

If the Bath man fails to recover in time, he will however be fit for the match with Australia the following Saturday.

Farrell said: "Like at the start of every Test week, when we've just had a Test, we always have a few bumps and bruises. But nothing significant. JJ [Joseph] has a bit of a knock, nothing too serious.

"The medical staff are working extremely hard to get him fit. We keep selection behind closed doors until Thursday. We will give him every chance to make sure he can pull on an England shirt on this weekend.

"It's something and nothing. He's got a knock on his chest. If he's fit for this weekend, we'll know by tomorrow [Wednesday]. If he's not fit, he won't be [out of action] more than a week anyway."

It isn't just about the 15 anymore. We know from our first game against Fiji that our bench is an important weapon

Farrell insists that England have the midfield resources to cope without Joseph.

"We've got a squad that's been training together for a long time now," he said. "We picked a 31-man squad with all sorts of permutations in the back of our mind so that the lads are comfortable, come what may."

Farrell also revealed that No 8 Ben Morgan - who did not train on Monday - has a bang on the knee but stressed that the injury "isn't serious at all".

England were generally laboured against Fiji on Friday, but the bench added some much-needed drive and momentum, and Farrell says that he expects the same against Wales.

"Whatever bench we pick this week, we're going to have an impact again," he said. "We've always wanted to get to this situation where the guys - most of them - are fully fit.

"We always knew that when we got a 31-man squad we were going to have a strong team on the day. But it isn't just about the 15 anymore. We know from our first game against Fiji that our bench is an important weapon."

League convert Sam Burgess was one of the men to make an impact off the bench last Friday, and Farrell says he is confident the Bath man is capable of starting against Wales in place of his Bath team-mate Jospeh, if required.

"When we picked our 31-man squad we were confident that every man can do a job for us," he said. "We had to make sure, when we picked that squad, that every man is comfortable with starting. Everyone was talking whether he [Burgess] was or he wasn't. We know what we see, week in, week out. We back all of them to start."

Brad Barritt looks certain to start in midfield again, though Farrell admitted the Saracens man - who will be playing just his third game since a long injury lay-off - had a quiet game by his standards against Fiji.

"His first game was very good, against Ireland [in the final World Cup warm-up match]," Farrell said. "Like a few others at the weekend I think he was a little bit quiet. But look - he's a big-game player, Brad. He's been involved in some big games for us and made a massive difference. We can expect a big performance from him."

Farrell admits that he and the whole squad are hugely excited by what will be a momentous - and potentially pivotal - match for both teams.

"It's one of those games isn't it, which everyone is unbelievably excited about," he said. "Not just the Welsh fans and England fans, but worldwide. Everyone knows this pool is a difficult pool.

"Everyone's been look forward to this for years now. Predictions, form…when you get games like this, that can all got out of the window.

"It's about our preparation, about getting that right, and about emotionally getting them in the right place to give the performance of their lives this weekend. That's what it's all about.

"We're in white, we're in the home dressing room, we're at Twickenham and we are going to have a hell of a lot of English fans behind us."