Crane will miss the start of the Tigers' Premiership campaign © Getty Images

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Leicester Tigers forward Jordan Crane is set for six to eight weeks on the sidelines following surgery on his injured ankle.

The England Saxons international landed himself in hot water last week after announcing via micro-blogging site Twitter that he would be out of action for three months after suffering the injury in the Tigers' pre-season victory against Munster.

Tigers boss Richard Cockerill responded by banning the 24-year-old and the rest of his squad from talking about club issues on social networking sites. "Jordan has had surgery on some ligament damage in his ankle to clean that up," said Cockerill. "It's a bit worse than we first feared."

Cockerill, who bolstered his second row ranks with Tongan Steve Mafi this week, is also set to be without lock Louis Deacons for the season-opener against Northampton on Sunday due to his on-going back problems.

However, there was some good news for the defending champions with flanker Tom Croft primed for a return at Franklin's Gardens having sat out pre-season with a shoulder injury. "It's going to be a great opener to the season," Cockerill told the Leicester Mercury. "We are going there for all four points and five if we can - but that is a big ask there. They are a good side and it's going to be a big clash.

"It will be physically hard and the new interpretations of the laws will make it fast and furious, which will suit them to a degree. It's just hard to predict how people will come out of the traps because each club has approached their season differently. Saints have played three games, we have played four and Saracens have played seven. What I know is that everyone has had enough of friendlies and wants to get on with it."