Manu Tuilagi is set to miss at least four weeks' action after picking up a groin injury in Leicester Tigers' European Champions Cup win over Ulster last Saturday.
Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill feels that it is unlikely that the centre will feature in any of England's autumn internationals this season.
"I don't think he will be fit for the autumn internationals," Cockerill said. "I think you are looking at four weeks plus for Manu to be back on the field."
Initially it was felt that Tuilagi had suffered a recurrence of the injury that saw him sidelined earlier in the season. However, Tuilagi has had a scan on the problem and while Tigers are still waiting for the exact diagnosis, Cockerill said: "Before his groin was very tight so we rested it, rehabilitated it and he was feeling good. He trained properly and there were no issues. But clearly there was something there that there shouldn't have been and he's done something else now.
"We just need to find out exactly what the problem is now and find the right treatment for it."
The Tigers boss added: "Manu is pretty level headed and a good professional and his concern will be to get fit again. The World Cup is a huge thing for him at the end of next year and he will want to be a huge part of that."
England head coach Stuart Lancaster is due to name his 33-strong elite player squad on Wednesday.
