England suffered another injury blow on Tuesday when head coach Stuart Lancaster confirmed centre Luther Burrell is unlikely to be fit for the upcoming test against New Zealand after sustaining a hand injury.

Northampton centre Burrell suffered an injury to his right hand during his side’s European Champions Cup victory over the Ospreys last weekend and will see a specialist ahead of New Zealand’s visit to Twickenham on November 8.

“I think it would be tight for New Zealand, if I’m being honest,” Lancaster told a news conference.

“He’s not been in camp this week at all. He’s seeing the specialist and it will probably unfold over the weekend.

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“He’s still in the equation further down the line. He’s definitely not out of the series. We’ll see how he goes.

“If the specialist is positive, then potentially he could come back into camp next week, but he won’t have done any of the work. It would be a big step to put him in (against New Zealand).”

Burrell, who has seven international caps, is joined on the sidelines by fellow centre Manu Tuilagiwho will miss the November internationals with a groin injury.

Prop Joe Marler, No 8 Billy Vunipola, centre Kyle Eastmond and winger Marland Yarde are also nursing injuries, but back row James Haskell and Bath prop David Wilson have returned to light training.

“It’s always a tough start to the season for players, particularly when they go six rounds of the Premiership and then two rounds of Europe,” Lancaster said.

With Lancaster sweating over his injury-hit squad, Premiership side Saracens took a subtle dig at his decision to overlook wingers Chris Ashton and David Strettle for the November fixtures.

According to the Premiership club, Ashton has scored 24 tries in 34 Premiership and European matches for Saracens since the start of last season, while Strettle has scored 20 tries in 35 matches over the same period.

“Chris and David have been consistently outstanding over the past 18 months,” Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall told the club’s website (www.saracens.com).

“The try-scoring stats speak for themselves but they do so much more than finish brilliantly – their all-round game, their work rate and their commitment has been exceptional.”

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England coach Stuart Lancaster said there would be no major changes to his side’s strategy and tactics during next month’s internationals – despite the involvement of attack guru Brian Ashton.

Former Bath, England and Ireland coach Ashton joined Lancaster’s squad at their training base in Surrey, south-west of London, on Monday – where the current Red Rose coaching staff tapped into his knowledge.

Ashton guided England to the 2007 World Cup Final, where they lost to South Africa, but he made his name at international level as backs coach under Clive Woodward in 2001 when the team played some of their most exciting attacking rugby ahead of being crowned World Cup champions in Australia two years later.

However, Lancaster said it would be wrong to read too much into Ashton’s involvement just under a year from England staging the 2015 World Cup.

“I don’t want to create something that’s not there,” Lancaster said.

“It’s for me to sit down and chat. Different ideas, different perspective.

“He’s developed a lot of players, but actually he’s developed a lot of coaches. He’s somebody I’ve always stayed in contact with.

“He’s a very creative attacking coach (but) we’re not going to change anything we’re not already doing.

“I think the way in which we try and play the game will remain the same.”

However, while England boast a world-class set of forwards, doubts remain about whether they have the backs to test the likes of world champions New Zealand, their opening opponents next month when the All Blacks come to Twickenham on November 8.

“In terms of our attacking mindset, I think we’ve always had a strong one,” Lancaster said.

“We need to beat New Zealand by scoring tries as well as kicking points.”

New Zealand are England’s first opponents of an end-of-year schedule which sees South Africa (15 November), Samoa (22 November) and Australia (29 November) – opponents in Pool A at the 2015 World Cup – also visiting Twickenham.