INSPIRATIONAL full-back Chris Latham will not play again before Christmas after the knee injury picked up against Newcastle Falcons was diagnosed as a medial ligament strain.

The former Australia international suffered the problem during Worcester’s 26-11 Guinness Premiership win at Sixways but the early signs were that he had just suffered bruising.

However, a scan of the joint revealed a grade two strain to the medial ligament, which will keep the 33-year-old, who was a try-scoring man-of-the-match against Falcons, out of action for at least four weeks.

Latham will miss Sunday’s league trip to Saracens, the home and away European Challenge Cup encounters with Bourgoin and the Premiership visit of struggling Bristol before hopefully returning for the December 27 rematch at Newcastle.

Warriors director of rugby Mike Ruddock said: “When we looked at Chris originally, we felt it might just be some bruising. He managed to limp off and the medical staff were quite upbeat.

“Unfortunately, when they had a second look at it, they noticed a bit more leeway and movement in the knee, which indicated there could be some ligament damage.

“He’s had an initial scan, which confirmed there was some ligament damage, and he will see a specialist on Friday to get a comprehensive view on it.

“The early indicators are he’ll probably be out for four weeks with a grade two medial ligament strain.

“Unfortunately, it looks like he won’t be back in time for the Bristol game on December 20 but, having said that, if there was anyone to beat the medical time scale, it is Chris, so let’s see what happens.”

Youngster Chris Pennell has the unenviable task of filling Latham’s number 15 shirt for the trip to Saracens, while ex-All Black international Rico Gear comes in on the right wing.

Meanwhile, Ruddock has revealed England boss Martin Johnson wants to set up a meeting after the autumn internationals to discuss the form of some Sixways stars.

Dynamic prop Matt Mullan is high on the list of potential internationals and the Warriors chief feels the 21-year-old front rower has got what it takes to make the step up.

He said: “I had a text off Martin the other day to say he is keen to meet up and talk about a few of our lads, so he’s definitely on the radar.

“Being a little one-eyed, we don’t want to let Matt go just yet but, having said that, we’d be delighted if he did get some involvement with England at some stage in the future.

“Matt is learning week in, week out in a tough front-row school. If he is going to play for England, we want him involved every time they play for the next number of years.

“We want him to be absolutely ready so he can take his chance and get a long run in the number one jersey. I think he’s good enough to do that but the timing of it is the key.”