Bath Rugby's preparations for tomorrow night's Aviva Premiership showdown against Sale Sharks have been dealt a blow with the news Francois Louw is set for a spell on the sidelines.
The South Africa flanker came off early in the second half of Bath's bonus-point victory at London Irish last weekend after injuring his ankle.
Severe swelling has prevented club medics from undertaking a full diagnosis but the injury will definitely rule Louw out of the crunch Sharks showdown at The Rec (7.45pm).
And first-team coach Toby Booth said it is still not known whether the Springbok international will be fit in time for Bath's Amlin Cup quarter-final at home to Brive on Sunday, April 6.
There is some good news for Bath, however, with Louw's injury offset by confirmation that fellow back-rower Carl Fearns is fit again after a lengthy hamstring problem.
Booth said: "Francois has unfortunately rolled his ankle.
"We need to get the swelling down before we get a full assessment from the scan.
We can then be a bit more accurate about time but it's not going to be a week out, it's going to be a little bit longer than that.
"Fearnsy is around this weekend, which is great, so it's one in, one out.
"Guy Mercer has come on and played well and we've got Mat Gilbert and Dave Sisi out on loan, so we've got cover in that position."
Friday's meeting marks a pivotal moment in the race for the Premiership play-off places.
Bath's victory over Exiles kept them third in the table, while Sale's shock win at home to previous league leaders Northampton Saints lifted them to fifth.
Sharks are still seven points adrift of the top-four and victory for Bath could put an end to the Manchester side's ambitions.
Bath are also looking to get back to winning ways at The Rec after back-to-back defeats earlier this month but Booth denied that has added any extra motivation.
"We haven't even talked about the last two results here," he said.
"It's just been about what's in front of us.
"Sale have gone well and will be buoyed by the result against Northampton. They have got play-off aspirations themselves and have plenty to play for, which makes them a very difficult opponent.
"They were already a dangerous team but it means they are now even more dangerous because they've got momentum. They've improved steadily across the season and we're going to have to make sure we are at are best.
"We know how difficult we are to beat, especially at home and the table doesn't lie, we are where we are because of what we've done.
"We're confident in our own ability and we need to go out on Friday and execute."
