England prop Phil Vickery is to have his back injury re-assessed by a specialist next week in the hope he can return for the latter stages of the RBS 6 Nations tournament.
Vickery has been out of action because of the pain in his back after he suffered a disc problem during a training session earlier this month.
Bristol consultant Richard Nelson is to examine the Gloucester skipper on February 25 - just four days before Gloucester play Leicester in the Powergen Cup semi-final.
"It is improving and getting better slowly and I will be seeing Richard Nelson again on 25th for re-assessment," said Vickery.
"All I can do is see what Mr Nelson says just to know where we are with it."