Henry Slade: Injured England centre hopes to play for Exeter in play-offs

Slade heard 'two cracks' when he broke his leg at the Ricoh Arena is October

England centre Henry Slade says he wants to help Exeter make the Premiership play-offs for the first time, when he recovers from injury.

The 22-year-old has been out since December after breaking his leg and dislocating his ankle at Wasps.

"Hopefully I'll get back in time to play a few games for Exeter before the end of the season," Slade said.

"We're in a good position at the minute, second in the league, hopefully we can stay up there."

Before Christmas, Slade said he was targeting a place on England's summer tour to Australia, but with him running and kicking a ball, a return to Premiership action before then is a distinct possibility.

"If we can stay where we are and aim for that home semi-final it would be really good, it would be great to have an occasion like that down at Sandy Park," he told BBC Sport.

Slade scored a try in England's final World Cup pool game against Uruguay

Slade got a sympathetic call from England boss Eddie Jones when he was named in England's initial Six Nations squad before being replaced by his friend and teammate Sam Hill.

And despite not being able to help England on the field, the centre has been impressed by what he has seen of Jones' England from the stands.

"Winning is the main thing and getting two wins is good. Murrayfield is a tough place to go but I thought the boys did well up there and got a good win," Slade added.

"Italy are a very proud nation as well and came out firing in the first half, but I think we rode that pressure pretty well and came out with a really strong performance in the second half.

"Jonathan Joseph getting a hat-trick was good to see and I think it's been very positive."