Johnson hopeful of Lawes return

England manager Martin Johnson remains hopeful that injured lock
Courtney Lawes may yet feature in this season's Six Nations after a knee
injury appeared to rule him out of the championship.




Johnson's preparations for the Six Nations have been
thrown into turmoil in recent weeks, with key forwards Lawes and Tom
Croft injured and second row Dave Attwood picking up a suspension for
stamping.




Both Croft and Lawes - two vital components of England's
improved performances in the autumn series - were believed to have no
chance of playing in the Six Nations after suffering shoulder and knee
injuries respectively.



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However Johnson is clinging to the hope that both men may
be able to recover before England conclude their campaign against
Ireland in Dublin on March 19.




"Tom and Courtney both have a chance of playing rugby by
the end of the tournament," Johnson said Wednesday as he announced a
33-man squad for the series.




"Tom is making good progress with the Leicester medics
and our guys and it is the same with Courtney, so they are both week to
week and hopefully they will be fitter sooner rather than later and make
the end of the tournament.




"Courtney saw the specialist last night and, like in all
these things, straight after the injury they take an image and interpret
that. I would love him to be out for just six weeks, it may be 10 weeks
but it is probably going to be eight or nine weeks. These things can
change week by week."




Both Lawes and Croft were named in Johnson's squad Wednesday with their replacements to be announced at a later date.




Lawes' injury could open the wat for the return former
captain Steve Borthwick. Northampton flanker Tom Wood is tipped to
replace Croft.




Johnson meanwhile made two changes to his squad, with
Leicester lock Louis Deacon replacing Attwood and Wasps scrum-half Joe
Simpson coming in for injured club-mate Dominic Waldouck.




Johnson has also added fly-half Charlie Hodgson into the
player pool for the tournament, which kicks off against Wales in Cardiff
on February 4.




Deacon returns to the squad after missing last year's
tour to Australia and the autumn internationals with a back injury,
which enabled the combative Attwood to step up and impress Johnson.




Attwood however was ruled out of England's opening
matches against Wales and Italy after being banned for stamping during
Gloucester's recent European Challenge Cup defeat to La Rochelle.




Attwood was named in England's second-tier Saxons squad
although he could return to the senior ranks to replace Lawes once his
suspension has run its course.




England squad




Forwards: George Chuter (Leicester
Tigers), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers),
Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers), Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester), Nick
Easter (Harlequins), Hendre Fourie (Leeds Carnegie), Dylan Hartley
(Northampton Saints), James Haskell (Stade Francais), Courtney Lawes
(Northampton Saints), Lewis Moody (Bath Rugby), Tom Palmer (Stade
Francais), Tim Payne (London Wasps), Simon Shaw (London Wasps), Andrew
Sheridan (Sale Sharks), Steve Thompson (Leeds Carnegie), David Wilson
(Bath Rugby), Joe Worsley (London Wasps)




Backs: Delon Armitage (London Irish),
Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints), Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby), Danny Care
(Harlequins), Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks), Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers),
Riki Flutey (London Wasps), Ben Foden (Northampton Saints), Shontayne
Hape (Bath Rugby), Charlie Hodgson (Sale Sharks), Joe Simpson (London
Wasps), David Strettle (Saracens), Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby),
Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)