Wednesday 24 April 2019 18:22, UK
Northampton are optimistic that England captain Dylan Hartley will return before the end of the season.
Hartley has not played since injuring his knee in December but wants to prove his fitness before this year's Rugby World Cup in Japan.
The 33-year-old, who had surgery in February, had targeted Friday's match at Newcastle for his return but the fixture has come too soon.
Northampton director of rugby Chris Boyd said: "He trained really well this morning but time's running out for Dylan this year. He's obviously not going to play against Newcastle. We've then got two games left in the regular season, against Worcester and Exeter with a European finals weekend off in between.
"The long-term hope if we wind the clock back to post-operation was that he would make one of the last three games at some point in time.
"If he made Newcastle he could have got three games under his belt, if he made Worcester he'd get two or Exeter he'd get one. We're still optimistic that Dylan will be in a position to be selected at some stage between now and the end of the season."
England next play on June 2 versus the Barbarians before summer warm-up matches against Wales, Ireland and Italy.
Hartley will hope to be involved when England take on Tonga in their opening World Cup match on September 22.
