Scrum-half Young's head injury came in a 28-8 home defeat by Northampton

Newcastle director of rugby Steve Bates admits that his main concern was the condition of scrum-half Micky Young after Friday's defeat by Northampton.

Young was stretchered off late on at Kingston Park, but thankfully tests at hospital proved that the injury was little more than concussion.

"I think he got a bang on the head," Bates told BBC Newcastle.

"It's the most important issue. He's been a little bit concussed and he's gone to hospital for an X-ray."

Hartlepool-born Young has forged a place for himself as first-choice scrum-half at Kingston Park, having come through the Falcons development squads.

The 20-year-old's injury further clouded a 28-8 home defeat. But Bates hopes that confidence will not be affected by the defeat.

Falcons have enjoyed three league wins this season, beating teams of the calibre of Bath, Worcester and London Irish, where they won 15-11 only last Sunday.

And, having also drawn three of their nine league games, they have only lost three times, helping them rise to sixth in the Premiership.

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But, although they slipped to a first defeat in five Premiership matches, they are still in the top half, comfortably clear of bottom club Leeds.

And they are only seven points adrift of Friday's opponents Northampton, who have moved up to third.

"Northampton are a bit ahead of us at the moment," said Bates. "But we were competitive.

"With a small squad we have to be realistic about the players we've got and the size of the squad we've got.

"The key for us is that we've had two really tough games in five days. The travelling to London Irish and back didn't give us time to prepare.

"But we're developing and moving forward."

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