Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder was counting the physical cost of his side's 27-16 defeat to Aviva Premiership table-toppers Leicester.
Lawes, Ashton and Geraghty all off in Saints defeat
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder was counting the physical cost of his side's 27-16 defeat to Aviva Premiership table-toppers Leicester.
Mallinder saw England duo Courtney Lawes and Chris Ashton suffer first-half injuries while Shane Geraghty also suffered a suspected fractured eye socket.
And while Saints' boss is hoping the knocks to Lawes and Ashton are not serious, he confessed they did not affect the outcome of the game.
"Lawes has a knee injury, Ashton a quad," he said of the pair.
"Both played on for a time with their injuries. They are tough lads and I am hoping that the injuries are not too serious.
"Geraghty's injury is more serious. He may have fractured his eye socket.
"To lose two of our England men was not the best but I am not blaming that for the result.
Physical
"Leicester played better than us. They have the biggest and strongest back line and I was impressed with them.
"It was a very physical game. They put us under pressure in the lineout and we should have played with greater tempo.
"It's a very difficult place to come and play. The crowd get behind them and it does have an effect on referees."
Leicester's win took them six points clear at the top of the Premiership and Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill felt winning the lineout battle had been crucial.
"It was a great win for us," he said. "I thought it was a great battle between two good sides especially in the set-piece.
"They probably had the better of the scrum but we nicked a fair amount of their lineout ball. We deserved our win."
Leicester also had an injury problem with captain Geordan Murphy stretchered off 10 minutes from the end.
"Geordan went over on his ankle," said Cockerill. "We are hoping for the best but it's too early to say the extent of his injury."
