Phil was told that he will require an operation to sort out a lingering problem. His specialist decided that the sooner he had it the better and Phil will go in to surgery on Friday, one day before Gloucester's Powergen Semi-Final against Leicester.

Vickery has not played for over four weeks and was hoping to be fit for the Powergen Match as well as hopefully featuring in the Six Nations.

It leaves both Gloucester and England in a slightly tricky situation. Veteran Andy Deacon could end up seeing much more match time then he expected although Trevor Woodman has almost recovered from his injury.

It is more difficult for England who have a distinct shortage of props with injury's to many of the usual candidates, but Woodman's return to fitness should also benifit them.

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