Exeter Chiefs scrum-half Dave Lewis is set to miss the next few weeks after picking up an injury against Cardiff Blues.
The former Gloucester No. 9 hurt an elbow in the 24-17 win at the Arms Park last Friday.
He is set to miss this Friday's trip to Ulster and the final pre-season match at Worcester seven days later.
Head coach Rob Baxter hopes Lewis will not be out for too long.
"The initial prognosis is there is no fracture, so it's going to be a bit of a wait and see," Baxter said.
"He (Lewis) had an MRI scan on Monday night and we're obviously hoping it won't show too much ligament damage. If that's the case, it will just be a case of getting him rehabbed, re-strengthening the joint and see how we go.
"He's certainly not going to feature this weekend against Ulster and he's unlikely to feature against Worcester. We'll just have to monitor him after the Worcester game on a week-by-week basis."
After starting the first four games of last season on the bench, Lewis established himself as first choice and went on to make 24 starts.
However, with the experienced Haydn Thomas and Will Chudley in the squad, Baxter has plenty of cover for the England Saxons player.
And he said there are also several youngsters in the academy, such as Stu Townsend and Jack Oulton, who can provide back-up if required.
"We've got a very strong academy group of scrum-halves so it is a position where we're blessed with some strength in depth," he said.
"We'd like Dave to be fit, he played a lot of rugby for us last year, but you always tend to pick up one or two injuries in pre-season."
