Borthwick leaves the field clutching his eye against Gloucester

England skipper Steve Borthwick is likely to be available for the November internationals after scans revealed no further damage to his injured eye.

The Saracens lock needed five stitches and was taken to a specialist eye unit after being kicked in the face during Sunday's 19-16 win over Gloucester.

There were fears that he had fractured his eye socket but scans have revealed no more than "extreme swelling".

The 29-year-old is expected to be out for between two and four weeks.

Saracens head coach Mark McCall implied Gloucester hooker Olivier Azam had deliberately kicked Borthwick in a 13th-minute ruck.

But the ex-France international denied his actions were intentional and said: "I didn't know I did it. I did not know I had made contact with Borthwick's head.

"All I remember is someone grabbing my ankle at the ruck when I was on the floor but I do not recall making contact with anyone and if there was contact, it was an accident."

The video footage we have seen so far would appear to be reasonably clear Saracens head coach Mark McCall

After viewing Saracens' own video footage of the incident, McCall believes the incident was not an accident.

"We are concerned at the way it occurred and it would appear it may have been a deliberate act of foul play," added the Northern Irishman.

"It is more than a cut. His eye is completely closed over and at this stage we don't know how badly damaged it is.

"The video footage we have seen so far would appear to be reasonably clear. It is something nobody wants to see. Steve was on the ground and pretty much defenceless."

Borthwick was recently given the all-clear to play in the autumn internationals after suffering a sprained rib cartilage.

England begin the series against Australia on 7 November, with Argentina and New Zealand coming to Twickenham on the next two weekends.

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