Dowson delivers Saints injury update ahead of Champions Cup clash with Munster

There were six men on the unavailable list ahead of the game against Saracens last Friday, with George Furbank and Alex Mitchell among them.

Rory Hutchinson, Elliot Millar Mills, Paul Hill and Callum Braley were also sidelined.

And at Tuesday afternoon's media session, Dowson remained unsure as to whether any of the injured players would be available this weekend.

On Furbank, Dowson said: "He's still struggling with his calf so it remains to be seen whether he'll make this weekend, but he's not done full training as yet so we're still trying to push him through that."

On Mitchell, he said: "He's a bit better, he's started doing a bit of passing but again it will come down to his reaction to contact and the timeline around how it is before he can get back into the mix."

Hutchinson had played against Bristol Bears the week before the Saracens clash, but he has been nursing a back issue.

"He had a problem with his back which was a bit of a hangover from Scotland duty," Dowson explained.

"He tried to get through it in the Bristol game but he struggled so we gave him last week to try to get over it.

"Hopefully having a nice Easter weekend where he didn't get battered has helped him get ready."

Saints have been without tighthead props Hill and Millar Mills since the return to competitive action last month.

And Dowson said: "Paul Hill had a neck issue in the warm-up for Bristol, which was why he dropped out late.

"It's nothing serious but it's kept him out of scrummaging so he hasn't done much training last week, but hopefully he and Elliot are not too far away."

And on scrum-half Braley, Dowson said: "He's had quite a serious soft tissue injury so he's probably going to be a bit slower coming back."