Charlie Hodgson leaves Sale sweating on his fitness... and his future

By Rob Wildman
Updated: 17:39 EST, 29 December 2010

Sale hope master tactician Charlie Hodgson will be fit for Sunday's visit of Saracens, the club leading the race to sign the unsettled fly-half.

Hodgson has resumed training after a month on the sidelines with an injured foot and could feature for Sale, whose acting head coach Pete Anglesea confirmed Mark Cueto as the club's captain until the end of the season.

Sale have refused to comment on the speculation surrounding Hodgson, who is out of contract in May and will be free under Premiership regulations to talk to rival clubs from the weekend.

In a sweat: Sale have major concerns over the fitness and future of key man Charlie Hodgson

In a sweat: Sale have major concerns over the fitness and future of key man Charlie Hodgson

The 30-year-old seems set to leave despite the departure last week of head coach Mike Brewer, the abrasive New Zealander who publicly criticised him.

Anglesea is prepared to lose players but insisted he is not panicking.

He said: 'I'm sure there will be players who will leave, but we spend right up to the salary cap and we will be looking at bringing the right player in.'

In the running: Sale hope to have Andrew Sheridan fit to return

In the running: Sale hope to have Andrew Sheridan fit to return

Sale also hope England prop Andrew Sheridan will be fit to face Saracens after a minor back problem.

Definitely out of consideration is former England wing Ben Cohen, who picked up a knee injury at Leicester, and doubts are lingering over the expected arrival of Samoan flyer Mikaele Pesamino.

The deal was set up by Brewer and club officials have refused to confirm that he will be joining next month.

London Irish held a clear-the-air meeting on Wednesday following a run of eight defeats in all competitions.

Head coach Toby Booth said a collective decision had been taken to return to Irish's usual tactics of a quick, instinctive game.

'The missing link is a mental thing,' he said.

'I know we are fitter than we have ever been and we do a lot of work on technique.

'There will be no witch hunt. This is not about pointing the finger at individuals. I will always back my players.

'Over the last three or four weeks we have made some significant strides but those strides aren't big enough. We have to force those strides to be a bit bigger.'

Get it right: London Irish, with Delon Armitage, held a clear-the-air meeting over their recent poor run of forrm

Get it right: London Irish, with Delon Armitage, held a clear-the-air meeting over their recent poor run of forrm

Ospreys hope Wales wing Shane Williams will have recovered from his shoulder injury in time for the Heineken Cup pool match at home to Toulon on January 22.

Ospreys physiotherapist Chris Towers said: 'He's making good progress and we are not ruling out a possible return for the Toulon game.'

Ospreys have rewarded top try-scorer Richard Fussell with a new contract to 2014.


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