'No timeline' on Mitchell recovery from neck injury

Alex Mitchell has won 18 caps for England and scored a try on his debut against Tonga in November 2021

Northampton scrum-half Alex Mitchell could miss England's autumn internationals after Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson said there was "no timeline" on his recovery from a neck injury.

Mitchell, 27, has missed both of Saints' Premiership matches at the start of the new campaign having suffered the injury during pre-season.

"He's had some treatment and we're waiting to see how effective that's been," Dowson told BBC Radio Northampton.

"We want to make sure that's as conservative as possible when it comes to things around the neck.

"So we're giving him some time to make sure he's 100%."

England face New Zealand, Australia, world champions South Africa and Japan across consecutive weekends at Twickenham next month.

But Mitchell, who missed most of this year's Six Nations Championship with a knee injury, seems unlikely to be fit enough to take on the All Blacks in the first game on 2 November.

"It's wait and see at the moment. There is genuinely no timeline, because it could be anything at the moment," Dowson said.

"It’s up in the air so it's hard to make a short-term plan or a long-term plan when you don't have that information.

"I think he's bored and a bit frustrated at the moment but we're hoping he continues to improve and we can get him back in the mixer soon."