Lions back row Tom Curry will miss Sale’s make-or-break Champions Cup showdown with Harlequins this weekend.
Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson has confirmed Curry is still sidelined by the calf injury he picked up in the warm-up before England’s Six Nations defeat in Italy three weeks ago and will not make Saturday’s Round-of-16 trip to The Stoop.
It is a blow for the Sharks, who will also be without twin brother Ben, who will miss the rest of the season having undergone hamstring surgery.
“A couple of Currys would be nice – getting them back fit would make a difference,” said Sanderson.
Sale’s back row issues are such that they were forced to play hooker Nathan Jibulu at No 7 against Bath on Sunday, and he could line up again there against his former club in the European tie on which their season now rests.
The Sharks also face an anxious wait over the availability of influential centre Rob du Preez, who went off early in the second half in the 31-26 defeat with a knee problem.
It was their ninth league reverse of a disappointing domestic campaign.
“There were areas of the game which I thought were really good, but it was not enough to get the win that we wanted to build our momentum to go into the Champions Cup,” said Sanderson.
“We’ve been off radar for a large proportion of this season through our performance.
“It’s not as if we’re not addressing fixes in the week and we’re not looking and getting better, but clearly there’s still some work to do.”