Scotland's captain John Leslie has only 50-50 chance of touring New Zealand with his country in the summer.

Leslie is recovering from an operation on the ankle which he ruptured ligaments to in the World Cup clash with South Africa in October.

Despite returning to action briefly in the Six Nations championship and turning out twice in the Premiership for Newcastle, the Kiwi centre was forced to undergo more treatment which could rule him out for the rest of the season.

Leslie will see his surgeon later this week before consulting club coach Rob Andrew and national team boss Ian McGeechan.

"It is quite a simple situation as far as the tour goes," said Leslie. "If I am fit I will go, if I am not I won't and it is very much 50/50 at the moment.

"There is no thought of pulling out just to give myself the summer to recover."

Leslie estimates that it will take six to eight weeks to make a full recovery, taking him perilously close to the June 1 Scotland departure date.

His absence would not only be a huge blow to McGeechan's chances of becoming the first Scottish coach to defeat the All Blacks, it would also be an immense personal disappointment for Leslie, who would be robbed of an eagerly-awaited return to his homeland.

But he admits the desire to make his comeback against Italy in February is proving costly now and he will not be repeating his mistake.

"Maybe I wasn't quite at the right level when I came back," said Leslie.

"I focused on being back to face Italy and once I set that target, I didn't want to miss it.

"I will not be doing that again because, although I have been fortunate with injuries so far in my career, I don't want to this one to last any longer than it has to."

McGeechan met with the entire Scottish selection panel, including A team and under 21s, and has drafted a provisional squad, which is expected to be confirmed within the next two weeks.

Winger Cammie Murray is expected to be available, although the Edinburgh Reivers man is unlikely to play before the end of the Scottish season as he returns to full fitness after a shoulder injury.

There has also been consultation with some of Scotland's French-based players, whose club commitments cut across the two-Test tour, which is followed by a full international against Fiji.

The French season is not due to finish until the end of June because of the disruption caused by the World Cup and some of the Scotland players do not have clauses in their contract allowing their release for international duty.

"In itself, that is not a problem because International Board regulations mean that international matches take precedence," said McGeechan.

"But it does make things easier if the clause exists. We have never encountered this situation before, so we are just checking through with the players and if necessary we will be contacting their clubs as well.

"We have selected a provisional squad but there are some players we want to know a little bit more about. Once we have done that we will be able to confirm the full party."