Alex Mitchell will miss England’s Six Nations match against Scotland on Saturday after suffering a knee injury during a training session at Twickenham.
Scrum-half Mitchell has started his country’s opening two wins of the tournament, scoring a second-half try in Italy and taking part in the home win over Wales.
England said Mitchell’s issue requires “investigation” and have called up Bristol scrum-half Harry Randall as cover.
Danny Care could replace Mitchell in the starting side for his 99th cap, while Ben Spencer is also a candidate.
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Mitchell became first-choice for England at the 2023 Rugby World Cup after being called up when Jack van Poortvliet suffered an ankle injury.
The 26-year-old has helped Northampton Saints to move top of the Gallagher Premiership this season, signing a contract extension in January.
The former Sale Sharks player, who has 13 caps, was training with the squad in front of 10,000 fans when he sustained the injury.
Six Nations 2024: Lawrence back in England squad
Steve Borthwick’s squad has been bolstered by the surprise return to of Ollie Lawrence.
Centre Lawrence was not initially named in the training group but has made good progress with a hip injury.
Borthwick will name his match squad on Thursday for the game at Murrayfield, where England will look to end a run of three successive defeats in the fixture.
England have eight points and are second in the table, two points behind Ireland and three ahead of Scotland.
England squad to face Scotland
Forwards: Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Ben Earl (Saracens), Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Joe Marler (Harlequins), George Martin (Leicester Tigers), Beno Obano (Bath Rugby), Ethan Roots (Exeter Chiefs), Will Stuart (Bath Rugby), Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
Backs: Danny Care (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Saracens), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), George Furbank (Northampton Saints), Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby), Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks)
