Leeds' Phil Swainston suffers wrist fracture

Swainston has featured in every game so far this season

Leeds prop Phil Swainston is set for a substantial period on the sidelines after suffering a suspected hairline fracture of his right wrist.

The 19-year-old suffered the injury in the defeat at Leicester and joins the club's already extensive injury list.

Director of rugby Andy Key told BBC Radio Leeds: "For the time being he is in a small pot [cast] to stabilise it.

"The likelihood is that it is a hairline fracture and we'll know more within the next 10 days."

Alfie To'oala and Lachlan MacKay are another two players who will be absent for the foreseeable future.

Back rower Too'ala underwent an operation on Tuesday to repair a groin tear and centre MacKay is still struggling with a shoulder injury picked up in the opening game of the season against Bath.

We've not got all the guys available we would like to and we haven't hit our straps yet. But that's encouraging because there is lots to come

Andy Key

Key explained: "In the end it was right for that operation to Alfie to happen. We could have waited, but we all felt it was right to do it.

"It's a similar operation to the one Scott Barrow had in the summer. We saw with Scott that he was back within three weeks and has actually back running in training within 10 days. So we expect no difference with Alfie.

"Lachlan is doing really well but will be another couple of weeks. But it's another one of those where it is better to sort his shoulder out now rather than bringing him back and finding he isn't right.

"So it's frustrating for him and he's desperate to get on the field and will have a big impact with us when he does."

The good news is for the Yorkshire club is that Scott Barrow and Daniel Browne have both recovered from the knocks they took at Welford Road, while Kearnan Myall and Luther Burrell are available for Saturday's trip to London Irish after recovering from their respective injuries.

"Luther was almost there for the game at Leicester but we felt he hadn't trained enough in the week and we didn't want to risk him.

"He's had a really hard training week this week and is in good sprits going into the weekend.

"Kearnan took a knock on his ankle but he's ready now and has trained really hard this week. He, Luther, Scott and Daniel are all in contention for this weekend.

"Christian Lewis-Pratt won't make the weekend. He has had a real bad bang on the outside of his right knee.

"It's had more of an effect on the nerve rather than anything else. So he's found it hard to train over the last 10 days but he should be fine for the following weekend."

Leeds' current injury jinx was summed up by the training accident involving head coach Neil Back.

The England World Cup winner lost part of his two front teeth after an accidental clash with Rhys Oakley in training ahead of their match at Leicester.

"It's disappointing rather than demoralising," Key added. "We know the depth of our squad is not as deep as it was last year, but we have better quality.

"We just need to manage the injuries in view of the whole season. With some we could have risked but decided not to in order to have them ready for later in the season.

"The squad is strong enough to cope, but it is frustrating at the moment as we'd like to pick from a full-strength squad. That's not the case currently but we just get on with it."