Johnson on injury watch

England manager Martin Johnson will be an anxious spectator as the weekend's round of Guinness Premiership action unfolds.

Johnson will on Monday name his revised 32-man elite player squad for the autumn internationals against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand and he is coming to terms with a shocking injury list that has robbed him of six guaranteed starters for the entire series.

Overall, 12 of the current EPS squad are carrying injuries to varying degrees of severity.

England's entire first-choice front row of Phil Vickery, Andrew Sheridan and Lee Mears is missing, so prop has suddenly become an area of serious concern.

Of the three senior squad props still standing, Wasps' Tim Payne and Julian White of Leicester start on Saturday while Bath's David Wilson is likely to see game time from the bench as he continues his comeback from a knee injury.

The front-row injury curse has also struck the Saxons squad, so Johnson may look to Bath's veteran duo David Flatman and Duncan Bell, both of whom feature against Newcastle.

Wilson, who is highly regarded by Johnson, swapped Newcastle for the Recreation Ground during the summer and Bell is pleased to have him on side as Bath attempt to complete their first home victory of the season.

"David ran the scrum video session and gave a little inside information about Newcastle's players in the front five," said Bell.

"It's good to have maybe a little spy in the camp - it gives us that little advantage in that we know a bit more about them than they do about us."