Michael Lipman suffered the injury in the Heineken Cup draw with Toulouse

Bath captain Michael Lipman will meet a neurosurgeon on Tuesday after failing to recover properly from concussion.

The flanker was briefly knocked unconscious 16 minutes into his side's 3-3 draw with Toulouse on 25 January.

Although he had hoped to return to the side against London Irish on Saturday, he was forced to drop out of the line-up after feeling unwell in training.

Lipman, who has 10 caps for England, admits that he is "very concerned" by his struggle to return to fitness.

"You can't put a time limit on it, but you cannot play when you are not 100%. If you do so, you are risking brain damage, memory loss and the shakes. You have to look after yourself. I am only 29," he said.

Bath's surrender of a 17-point half-time lead over the Exiles kept them in fourth place in the Premiership with a trip to local rivals and league leaders Gloucester looming next weekend.

606: DEBATE Give your reaction to Lipman's absence

"If there is the slightest doubt with this type of injury, you put the guy off for another week," he said.

"He really is the sole judge. He's the one who says 'I've got through that training, I feel 100% and I am ready to take all my tests'."

His delayed return to action will do little for his chances of forcing his way back into England manager Martin Johnson's thinking for the three remaining Six Nations matches.

Although he featured in three of his country's autumn internationals, Lipman was dropped from the elite squad ahead of the tournament and has since seen Joe Worsley stake a claim to his back-row place with an impressive performance against Wales.

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