Leicester prop Julian White faces a lengthy ban if he is found guilty of eye-gouging © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Julian White

Teams: England | Leicester Tigers | Ospreys | Wales

Leicester and England prop Julian White must play the waiting game to see if he is cited for alleged eye-gouging during his side's Heineken Cup defeat to the Ospreys.

The Tigers progressed to this season's quarter-finals despite a 15-9 defeat at Liberty Stadium but controversy followed the game with the Ospreys accusing White of eye-gouging. Ospreys coaches Sean Holley and Jonathan Humphreys highlighted White's alleged misdemeanours and have until tonight to make their observations known to citing commissioner Denis Templeton.

The Irishman then has until tomorrow night to decide whether White's alleged behaviour warrants a disciplinary hearing with England manager Martin Johnson set to be a keen observer of any developments.

Punishments for eye-gouging range from anything between 12 and 24 weeks, with three years the maximum penalty. White has a history of disciplinary trouble, which includes bans for punching, butting and fighting.

In a statement released today Leicester acknowledged, "that an allegation of serious foul play has been made against one of their players following Saturday's Heineken Cup game against the Ospreys.

"Tigers do not condone serious foul play of any nature and take any such allegations seriously. The player denies any knowledge of wrongdoing and the club will study match footage and, if appropriate, conduct its own investigations into the allegation. In the meantime, the citing commissioner will decide if any players should face disciplinary charges."

Following the game, former Wales captain Humphreys said, "We had a couple of players in the changing rooms with marks around their eyes. There were a couple of incidents in the game at Welford Road involving Julian White (Ospreys lost to Leicester in October), but we didn't go down the citing line.

"It is particularly disappointing it happens again, and disappointing it happens with the same guy. In Europe, these incidents are a little too prevalent for our liking. It seems to be becoming part of the game, and a few boys are particularly upset with Julian."

Head coach Holley added, "We all have a duty to eradicate this from the game, and our team manager has spoken to the citing officer. It is up to the citing officer, if he's not happy, to look at it. There is some footage. It is disappointing the touch judges were giving forward passes, but missing serious foul play. Do we just roll over? There were numerous scuffles, for obvious reasons."

Johnson and his elite squad - including White - flew to Portugal today for warm-weather training ahead of next month's tournament opener against Italy at Twickenham.

The 35-year-old White was called up as replacement for Bath prop Matt Stevens, who is currently suspended from all rugby following a positive drugs test that could see him receive a two-year suspension. White is on the verge of relaunching his Test career after missing England's 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign to spend more time on his farming business.

With Stevens sidelined, Johnson can ill-afford to lose a player of White's experience for a Six Nations campaign that sees England facing successive away games against Wales and Ireland following the Italy clash. Johnson has already seen Leicester back-row forward Lewis Moody (ankle) and Wasps lock Tom Palmer (shoulder) sidelined from the whole tournament, while flanker Tom Rees is another injury victim who will miss at least the first three Tests.

If White is cited and banned, Johnson's prop resources will be stretched. It might all mean a senior squad call-up for 23-year-old Newcastle front-row prospect David Wilson to understudy England's current tighthead Phil Vickery.