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Leicester captain Ed Slater is unlikely to play any part in England's autumn Test series after undergoing knee surgery.
The 26-year-old lock has been sidelined since captaining England's midweek side to a 38-7 victory over Super 15 outfit the Crusaders in New Zealand in June.
Leicester have ruled Slater out for "several months", with England launching their autumn schedule by hosting New Zealand at Twickenham on November 8.
Slater would have been primed to battle Joe Lanchbury, Courtney Lawes and Dave Attwood for a second-row berth in head coach Stuart Lancaster's full England side.
2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in picturesShow all 39 1 /392014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures 2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Sale Sharks 25 Wasps 14 Tom Arscott goes over for Sale’s opening try against Wasps at the AJ Bell Stadium
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Newcastle 29 Exeter 25 Tom Catterick (left) celebrates his try for Newcastle
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Bath 21 Saracens 11 Jonathan Joseph (right) clashes with Chris Ashton of Saracens after scoring Bath’s first try. Ashton was sent to the sin bin
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Leicester Tigers 19 London Irish 22 London Irish fly-half Shane Geraghty kicks the winning penalty
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Northampton Saints 31 Bath 24 Dylan Hartley is tackled by Stuart Hooper
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Saracens 40 Sale Sharks 19 Alex Goode scores for Saracens
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Newcastle 10 Northampton 35 George North scores Saints’ fourth try at Newcastle
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Newcastle 10 Northampton 35 Will Hooley marked his third Premiership start with a try, two conversions and three penalties
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Bath 45 Leicester 0 Bath players celebrate a try in their crushing 45-0 win over old foes Leicester
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Harlequins 26 Wasps 23 Mike Brown attempts to break through the tackle of Tom Varndell
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Sale 46 London Welsh 8 Luke Arscott scores one of his three tries against the Exiles
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures London Irish 32 Saracens 36 Billy Vunipola crashed over for the match-winning try in the final seconds of the match
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Wasps 20-16 Northampton Ashley Johnson breaks away from Stephen Myler to score Wasps’ first try against Northampton
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Wasps 20-16 Northampton Tom Varndell holds off the tackle of Saints' Lee Dickson
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Newcastle 18-20 London Irish Shane Geraghty of London Irish reacts first to a loose ball as Newcastle Falcons’ Mark Wilson is forced to take evasive action
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Exeter Chiefs 20 Leicester Tigers 20 Julian Salvi is tackled as he attempts to break the Exeter defensive line
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Exeter Chiefs 20 Leicester Tigers 20 Richard Cockerill looks on despite finding it a frustrating game to watch
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Bath 53 London Welsh 26 Peter Browne is congratulated by his team-mates after going over for London Welsh
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Bath 53 London Welsh 26 Anthony Watson crashes over to extend the lead
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Bath 53 London Welsh 26 Semesa Rokoduguni celebrates scoring a try for Bath
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Gloucester 34 Sale Sharks 27 Chris Cusiter attempts to break away for Sale
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Gloucester 34 Sale Sharks 27 Jonny May breaks free as he leads the Gloucester fightback
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Gloucester 34 Sale Sharks 27 Yann Thomas and Henry Trinder celebrate after the former scores a try
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Harlequins 0 Saracens 39 Chris Aston celebrates scoring a try against Harlequins as Sarries crushed their opponents at the Twickenham Stoop
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures London Welsh 0 Exeter 52 Chrysander Botha (left) of Exeter Chiefs celebrates his try with team mate Matt Jess
2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures London Welsh 0 Exeter 52 Ian Whitten crosses for one of Exeter Chiefs’ seven tries against London Welsh
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures London Irish 15 Harlequins 20 Joe Marler is sent to the sin-bin
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures London Irish 15 Harlequins 20 Ollie Lindsay-Hague scores for Harlequins
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Sale 20 Bath 29 Danny Cipriani can't prevent Semesa Rokoduguni crashing over to put Bath out of sight
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Sale 20 Bath 29 Will Addison finds himself at the centre of a on-filed scrap between Sale and Bath players
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Sale 20 Bath 29 Will Addison of Sale is tackled by Anthony Watson of Bath
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Sale 20 Bath 29 George Ford gets the ball away despite the attentions of Danny Cipriani
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Saracens 34 Wasps 28 David Strettle celebrates scoring the match-winning try after sliding in to sink Wasps
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Saracens 34 Wasps 28 Saracens fans celebrate victory against Wasps
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Saracens 34 Wasps 28 David Strettle touches down to seal a 34-28 win for Saracens
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Saracens 34 Wasps 28 Christian Wade races clear of David Strettle to score for Wasps
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Northampton 53 Gloucester 6 Jon Fisher of Northampton celebrates after scoring their sixth try
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Northampton 53 Gloucester 6 George Pisi found with a touchdown at the sticks
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2014/15 Aviva Premiership - in pictures Northampton 53 Gloucester 6 George North scores for Northampton in their 53-6 rout of Gloucester
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"It's very disappointing for us and obviously for Ed because he was in such good form last season and has become an important member of our squad," said Leicester rugby director Richard Cockerill.
"Ed's performances for Tigers have pushed his way into the England squad and I was very happy to be able to appoint him as Tigers club captain going into the new season.
"He is in good hands with our medical team, he's started his rehab from the surgery and we look forward to his return to training and playing in due course."
Slater's injury absence to Leicester will be offset by the Tigers' summer recruitment of World Cup-winning former All Black Brad Thorn.
The evergreen 39-year-old was brought in to ease the loss of Steve Mafi, who has joined Australian Super Rugby franchise Western Force.
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