Wales centre Tom Shanklin hobbled off with a knee injury after 30 minutes

Tom Shanklin has added to Wales coach Warren Gatland's Six Nations injury worries after limping off in the Blues' 26-0 defeat at the Ospreys.

The Lions centre was forced off in the 30th minute at the Liberty Stadium after injuring his troublesome knee.

"He has suffered a bang on his knee but we don't know how serious it is at this stage," said Blues coach Dai Young.

Fly-half Stephen Jones, scrum-half Mike Phillips, hooker Matthew Rees and prop Duncan Jones are also Wales concerns.

Gatland's team kick off their Six Nations campaign at Twickenham against England at Twickenham on 6 February and the Kiwi coach is hoping that his injury list clears up.

He has been boosted by the return of Osprey pair prop Adam Jones and full-back Lee Byrne while wing Shane Williams' regional return is imminent.

And Gatland has also been reassured by Ospreys forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys that lock Alun Wyn Jones and versatile back James Hook will recover from shoulder injuries in good time for the Championship opener.

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"Their injuries will be resolved this week," said Humphreys.

"We could have pushed them through this week but we have competition in their positions so we didn't feel we needed to push them too much if they're not right.

"But they will be okay for our European games later this month."

But the good news was tempered when the experienced Shanklin limped off at the Liberty Stadium on New Year's Day.

Shanklin defended a chip-and-chase from Ospreys star Byrne, his Wales team-mate, and landed awkwardly after a collision with Nikki Walker.

The double Grand Slam winner, who has won 65 Wales caps, immediately sought medical attention and was replaced by Gareth Thomas and Young says both Blues and Wales will "keep their fingers crossed."

"We hope the injury is not too serious and we see him again sooner rather than later," added Young, who will send Shanklin for a scan over the weekend.

Stephen Jones injured a shoulder in the Scarlets' New Year's Eve win over the Dragons while Rees (groin), Duncan Jones (broken foot), Phillips (foot), wing Mark Jones (knee) and flanker Dafydd Jones (shoulder) are also concerns for Gatland.

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