Tuesday 20 December 2016 18:17, UK
Northampton are optimistic that George North will be cleared to return to action in Friday's Aviva Premiership clash with Sale.
The Wales wing has been stood down since he appeared to lie motionless following a dangerous tackle during the 19-13 loss to Leicester on December 3.
North played on in that match and a Concussion Management Review Group (CMRG), drawn up to investigate the handling of the potential head injury, is expected to reveal its findings on Wednesday.
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder says he thinks North will be cleared by specialists to return for Friday's game at Franklin's Gardens.
"He's back in training and he should be available to play against Sale," said Mallinder.
"He's had a bit of time off and he's feeling really good about himself. He's looking really sharp out there and he's looking forward to playing.
"George is actually going back to the specialists, just to check again that everything's okay.
"I'm not making decisions on whether he plays or not, that's out of my hands.
"That's down to the trained professionals to make the right judgements and surely there's no better people to make those decisions."
North previously had a six-month spell out of the game in 2015, after suffering a series of high-profile head injuries.
Mallinder has also stood by his decision to rest key players for Saturday's 60-13 Champions Cup thrashing at Leinster.
The Saints may face an investigation from tournament organisers European Professional Club Rugby after fielding a weakened team but Mallinder said: "We stick by our decision, in that we've got a squad we register at the beginning of the season who we think are good enough to play in Europe.
"We played that squad.
"We did register one extra player, young James Fish who came in for Dylan Hartley [who was sent off the week before], for obvious reasons.
"So that's what we decided to do, and the experience and freshness gained from them playing last week, hopefully that will benefit us down the line."
