England chief Johnson waiting for news on injured stars

Lawes and Ashton picked up their injuries during the first half and Saints' injury woes did not end there with Shane Geraghty suffering a suspected fractured eye socket.

On the injuries to Lawes and Ashton, Mallinder said: "Lawes has a knee injury, Ashton a quad. Both played on for a time with their injuries. They are tough lads and I am hoping that the injuries are not too serious.

"Geraghty's injury is more serious. He may have fractured his eye socket."

England coach Martin Johnson will join Mallinder in hoping Lawes and Ashton can make a speedy recovery with the Six Nations Championship looming large.

Mallinder was in no mood to use Saints' injury problems as an excuse for defeat. "To lose two of our England men was not the best but I am not blaming that for the result," he said.

"Leicester played better than us. They have the biggest and strongest back line and I was impressed with them.

"It was a very physical game. They put us under pressure in the lineout and we should have played with greater tempo.

"It's a very difficult place to come and play. The crowd get behind them and it does have an effect on referees."

Leicester's win took them six points clear at the top of the Premiership and Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill felt winning the lineout battle had been crucial.

He said: "It was a great win for us. I thought it was a great battle between two good sides especially in the set-piece.

"They probably had the better of the scrum but we nicked a fair amount of their lineout ball. We deserved our win."

Leicester also had an injury problem with captain Geordan Murphy stretchered off 10 minutes from the end.

"Geordan went over on his ankle," said Cockerill. "We are hoping for the best but it's too early to say the extent of his injury."

Ben Foden claimed an early try for the Saints and Craig Newby and Marcos Ayerza scored the Tigers' tries and Toby Flood kicked five penalties and a conversion.

Gloucester chief Bryan Redpath hailed a top-class performance by former England wing James Simpson-Daniel in his team's emphatic victory over Exeter.

Yorkshireman Simpson-Daniel scored one of Gloucester's five tries during a 37-23 Kingsholm triumph, and proved a handful for Exeter's defence all afternoon.

The 28-year-old never stopped looking for work, and Redpath believes that ethic is crucial if he is to challenge again in terms of featuring on the international stage.

"I thought he was outstanding," said Redpath. "He needs to keep working hard and getting on the ball. He needs to demand the ball more and be in positions to create opportunities. He's a dangerous runner, and he must be assertive enough to go and demand the ball.

"Reputation is one thing, performance is another. Today, James's performance – and in the last couple of weeks – was getting there in terms of consistency."