CHRIS Hall is not expected to be out for an extended period following a back injury.

Worcester Rugby Club's hooker began to feel problems be-fore last Saturday's Powergen Cup tie at Wakefield with his back going into spasm.

It meant he missed a run-out in the 18-17 defeat and is also ruled out of today's National One clash with Henley Hawks at Sixways (3pm).

However, Worcester's director of rugby John Brain is confident that, with the right treatment, Hall will be back in action sooner rather than later.

"Chris had a scan on his back this week," said Brain. "The results indicated that it's nothing serious. We will now monitor the situation but the good news is that we don't expect him to be out for too long.

"There are one or two things going on with the discs but structurally, there's nothing to worry about. We are not talking about a James Brown back.

"What we will do with Chris is to firstly give him a bit of time to recover but we will be reviewing his situation on a daily basis."

Ironically, Hall's injury comes at a time when most are returning to full fitness. It represents a change in fortune for Brain whose squad has been blighted by injury problems during his two-year reign at Sixways.

Club captain Werner Swanepoel is back following his knee and Achilles problems while influential players Christian Evans, Richard Bates, Neil Lyman, David Officer and Gary Trueman have all returned to full training.

With the impending arrival of Ben Hinshelwood back after World Cup duty with Scotland, it will give Brain a few selection headaches in the weeks to come.

"It does make a very pleasant change," added Brain. "It's what you want as a coach. You want to make proper selection decisions rather than putting people in because you have so many injuries. What we have now is a very competitive squad who will push one another.

"This is a crucial period of the season for us so it's nice to have a few options available."