Dylan Hartley was sin-binned after just 14 minutes against Racing Metro © Getty Images

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England coach Stuart Lancaster has been dealt further bad news ahead of the Six Nations, with second-row Geoff Parling and back-rower Tom Wood joining a seemingly ever-expanding injury list.

The pair are possible starters for England's tournament opener against Wales at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on February 6, but they both limped out of European Rugby Champions Cup fixtures on Saturday. Leicester lock Parling hobbled off the pitch with a knee injury just three minutes into the Tigers defeat by Ulster in Belfast, while Northampton flanker Wood twisted an ankle as the Saints lost to Racing Metro.

Tigers coach Richard Cockerill said Parling had sustained a medial cruciate ligament injury that was likely to sideline the lock for "a few weeks I would imagine". Saints coach Jim Mallinder was a little more optimistic about Wood, saying the flanker had "twisted his ankle so hopefully it is nothing more serious than that".

Parling's injury leaves Lancaster's locking options looking thin, with Joe Launchbury and Ed Slater already set to miss the entire Six Nations with their respective neck and knee injuries and Courtney Lawes sidelined until the middle of the tournament at the earliest after undergoing minor ankle surgery.

Outside the second-row, Gloucester No.8 Ben Morgan and Northampton fullback Ben Foden will miss the tournament with respective leg and knee injuries, while Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi will miss the Wales Test.

England hooker Dylan Hartley, at the centre of discussions about ill-discipline after he was banned for three weeks for elbowing Leicester centre Matt Smith before Christmas, was sin-binned after just 14 minutes against Racing Metro. "You can't tackle somebody when you're on the floor," Mallinder said. "I guess the player could potentially have scored so I guess that's why he got the yellow."

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