David Wilson is suffering from a nerve injury © Getty Images

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England are unsure when tight-head David Wilson will be fit to play again as he continues his recovery from a nerve injury.

Wilson sustained the injury at the end of January and sat out their Six Nations opener against Wales last Friday. Dan Cole replaced him and the Tigers tight-head looks set to keep his place for this Saturday's game.

While England have been handed the boost of Brad Barritt, Geoff Parling and Kyle Eastmond returning to training, Stuart Lancaster is unsure when Wilson be available again. Lancaster says Wilson's "neck is settling down but he hasn't got the strength back in his arm yet from this nerve".

Despite the ambiguity, Lancaster is hopeful Wilson will be back sooner rather than later.

"We're optimistic it's not [a potential long-term problem] but I was pretty optimistic he was going to play, wasn't I?" Lancaster said. "His pain's gone but his strength hasn't quite returned. Sometimes these things can take two weeks sometimes they can take longer ... there's not an exact science as to how quickly a nerve that has had a bang on it takes to recover. Hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later but it's hard to tell to be honest."

Cole returned to the England starting line-up last Friday having missed nearly a year of international rugby due to a neck injury. He sustained the injury in the aftermath of the second match in last year's championship and sat out eight months of rugby as he regained full fitness. Despite having missed the last six weeks due to a foot sprain, Cole started in Cardiff and Lancaster was delighted with his performance.

"I'd seen how hard he'd worked on his fitness and rehab," Lancaster said of Cole. "He'd trained fully with us. I'd have been more apprehensive if he hadn't done a full week's training leading into the game. He was also 100 per cent ready to play in his own mind.

"It was also another step forward for Kieran Brookes. I thought his contribution from the bench was excellent. It's a good position to be in with Kieran, Henry Thomas and hopefully Davey coming back. We can't have too many tight-heads."