Alex Corbisiero has been advised to undergo shoulder surgery © Getty Images

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Alex Corbisiero will miss the Autumn internationals after Northampton Saints confirmed the England star will be sidelined until early 2015 with a shoulder injury.

The prop suffered the problem during the second half of Saints' Aviva Premiership victory against Bath on Saturday and the club confirmed Tuesday the 26-year-old had endured a ligament tear.

A statement on Saints' official website read: "Alex Corbisiero has sustained a ligament tear to his shoulder that will keep the England prop out of action until early 2015.

"Corbisiero sustained the injury in the second half of the Saints' Aviva Premiership Round 4 game against Bath, with the specialist's advice being that the tear needed surgical repair so that he can play to an optimum level in the future. The Saints and England medical teams are liaising on Corbisiero's treatment and recovery."

Corbisiero was hampered with a knee injury for most of last season. He will now miss the upcoming Autumn internationals which start when England host New Zealand on November 8, before further matches against South Africa, Samoa and Australia follow.

England head coach Stuart Lancaster is due to announce his latest elite player squad in three weeks' time, and Corbisiero would undoubtedly have been a major part of selection plans.

The news deepens Lancaster's headache in terms of front-row options as Saracens loose-head Mako Vunipola (knee) and Leicester tight-head Dan Cole (neck) are not expected to be fit for the autumn campaign.

Corbisiero has won 19 caps and starred for the 2013 British & Irish Lions after being summoned as an injury replacement from England's Argentina tour, scoring a try during the series-clinching third Test win against Australia in Sydney.

He is regarded as one of the finest all-round props in northern hemisphere rugby and his latest injury also means he will miss a number of games for Northampton, including at least four of their European Champions Cup fixtures, such as tough pool matches against Racing Metro and the Ospreys.