ANDY Keast is "hopeful" that Tim Collier will be fit to bite into Sale Sharks' Premiership bid.

The lock aggravated a pectoral injury during Worcester's weekend win at Harlequins but the Sixways head coach is playing down the problem.

"Tim's nowhere near as bad as he was," said Keast.

"With the weather and the lack of preparation time for the game, he's not going to miss that much training so we'll give him as long as he needs. I'm hopeful that he'll be OK for Friday."

Meanwhile, Keast will advise Ben Hinshelwood to rest during the summer to clear up his niggling back problems.

Hinshelwood, who is in Scotland's provisional 31-man squad to take on Italy this weekend, could yet feature for Worcester on Friday if he is not involved in the final 22.

The Australian-born back has been hampered by a persistent back injury all season which seems to have affected his international chances with him yet to play any Six Nations minutes so far for Scotland.

"In our recent game at Gloucester, he played well and that was his best performance for a while," added Keast. "He has to look at his off-season programme.

"He doesn't need an operation but he needs to rest. At present, he is having to play through the pain because, as a professional player, he is expected to play."

If Hinshelwood misses the Sale game, Giscard Pieters looks set for a recall. The South African had to be content with a bench place during Saturday's 15-9 win at the Stoop.

Meanwhile, Worcester have emphasised that Friday's Sale clash is sold out. "We don't want people turning up here on Friday only to be disappointed," said Worcester's operations director Mike Robins. "There will be no tickets for sale."