Saturday 9 January 2016 19:32, UK
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder has played down the rib injury which caused England hooker Dylan Hartley to miss the Aviva Premiership game at Leicester.
Hartley has been touted as a potential successor to the national side's World Cup captain Chris Robshaw as part of new head coach Eddie Jones' remodelling of the squad.
But while Hartley missed the East Midlands derby, which Saints lost 30-27 after Freddie Burns scored a last-minute penalty, Mallinder confirmed he does not expect the player to be out for "a long time", meaning he is likely to be in contention for Six Nations duty.
"He got a bang to his ribs last week," Mallinder said of Hartley. "He trained a little bit in the week but at the last minute, he was just too sore to play today.
"We were hoping that he would come through and be fine. It's a bang to the ribs, and he has done some training this week, so he is not going to be out for a long time.
"But I guess ribs are one of those things, and particularly when you are scrummaging, you are not exactly sure how it is going to affect you."
