Saints could be without 11 players for Sale encounter

Lewis Ludlam, Dan Biggar are on international duty, while there are also injury issues to contend with.

Courtney Lawes (ankle), Rory Hutchinson (ankle), Ollie Sleightholme (ankle), Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (Achilles), Francois van Wyk (knee), Mike Haywood (knee) and talented young Academy forward Kayde Sylvester (Achilles) are definitely sidelined.

Teimana Harrison (calf) and Harry Mallinder, who has recovered well from the knee operation he had in early October, remain doubtful.

"I think we've got 11 when I went through the whole list of the squad who may not be available for selection so it's a bit of a hole in the team but it is what it is," Boyd said.

"Teimana is in pretty good shape and we'll find out tomorrow whether he's ready to be selected.

"Ollie Sleightholme did his ankle and that's going to be three months out, which is really unfortunate for him because he's had a terrible run with injuries and we were looking forward to him coming back after a pretty nasty hamstring injury.

"Francois van Wyk is still a few weeks away, Mikey Haywood is still a few weeks away, Courtney Lawes won't be available, obviously.

"Harry Mallinder has trained really well in the off-season and he finally got to the bottom of the problem with that knee.

"He had a little issue with that knee that wasn't getting picked up in a scan for a period of time but he's trained with a lot of confidence and he'll be there or thereabouts."

Scotland centre Hutchinson managed to avoid surgery after being hit by an ankle problem at the end of September.

And Boyd said: "He was conservatively rehab managed so he's probably a couple of weeks away.

"He'll probably be ready for Bristol (on December 4) so he's one of the 11 that is currently out."

Saints have been boosted by the return of David Ribbans, Alex Mitchell and George Furbank, who were released by England earlier this week.

But decisions still need to be made on what part, if any, they will play against Sale.

"It depends on what stage of the week they get released and whether we're playing on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday," Boyd said.

"They'll get anything from the maximum of one training session to no training sessions with us and they've come out of an environment that's pretty intense.

"We have to manage them physically and mentally around how fresh they are to play and a different set of language and bits and pieces.

"The boys who have been released are available for selection by and large and we'll make some decisions around that over the next 24 hours."