WORCESTER Warriors skipper Pat Sanderson is a doubtful starter for Sunday’s Guinness Premiership opener at Northampton Saints.

The flanker picked up a dead leg during the pre-season victory in Ulster last week but the ex-England back row man has failed to shake off the complaint.

The inspirational Sixways captain was seen by specialists last night and is now awaiting the results from his scan.

“Hopefully it’ll be OK but I’ve been for a scan and I’m waiting for the radiologist says,” the Warriors skipper said.

“It’s frustrating because we don’t know what it is.”

News that Sanderson may miss Sunday’s clash at Franklin Gardens will not be how director of rugby Mike Ruddock will have envisaged the season’s start.

But the skipper himself is hoping that given a few more days recovery he will be able to make the starting XV.

“I picked up a dead leg in the win over Ulster and I haven’t been able to shake it off,” he said. “Maybe with a couple more days it will be OK — we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Apart from the doubt over Sanderson, the Warriors dir-ector of rugby is expecting to have a clean bill of health for the season’s curtain-raiser.