WORCESTER Warriors back rower Matt Cox faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a bicep injury.

The experienced forward has been ruled out for between nine and 10 weeks, meaning he is likely to miss Warriors’ next five Aviva Premiership matches.

But he will hope to be back fit for Worcester’s crunch clash against fellow strugglers London Irish on Friday, December 22 and their trip to Saracens a week later to round off 2017.

Cox is among several players on long roads to recovery with flanker Dewald Potgieter (knee) due to return in December and fellow forwards Marco Mama and Niall Annett expected to be out for most of the campaign with damaged knees.

However, tighthead prop Nick Schonert and scrum-half Luke Baldwin are showing signs of progress as they try to overcome ankle and bicep injuries respectively.

Schonert has been sidelined for between four and five weeks and Baldwin is set to be out for a further month.

Worcester’s injury list also features full-back Ben Howard and centre Max Stelling who have sustained ankle problems and wing Bryce Heem who pulled out of last Friday’s match against Saracens with a quad injury.

But the club have yet to clarify when the trio are likely to comeback.