Harlequins flyer David Strettle will be sidelined for up to eight weeks after a breaking a bone in his foot, casting doubt on his club's hopes of a top-six finish in the Guinness Premiership.

The 24-year-old was injured making a scintillating 50m break in the opening minutes of England's 26-19 defeat to Wales at Twickenham.

Strettle missed the opening weeks of the Premiership campaign with a similar injury sustained at a pre-World Cup training camp in August, watching on as Quins made an impressive start to the season.

But he has been one of the back line's standout performers since returning, and regained his international starting slot despite Quins going on a miserable run of just one win in 13 games.

Director of rugby Dean Richards had identified the former Rotherham man as a potential threat to the Welsh ahead of Saturday's Six Nations opener, but will now be without his star man for up to seven of his side's remaining 11 Premiership clashes.

However, the former England number eight is confident his squad - already missing Chris Malone (back), Chris Robshaw (hand), Jim Evans (hand) and Stuart Abbott (retired) - can cope with the strain.

"It is upsetting for David because I think he was really looking forward to playing on a firm pitch," Richards said.

"If you look at the conditions we have played in recently, it was the first time in a long time that he has played in conditions that suited his game, and you saw what an impression he can make.

"He has suffered a hairline fracture, which is not as bad as we first thought.

"We were without him for that amount of time during the World Cup and we coped.

"I would expect us to cope just as well."

England, who led 16-6 at the break, have been widely criticised for a collapse that saw Wales win the second half 20-3.

But Richards has called for perspective from critics calling for the heads of some senior players, including World Cup winners Jonny Wilkinson and Andy Gomarsall.

"If you break it down, there were 10 minutes of madness and 10 minutes of catch-up rugby that England were not particularly good at," he added.

"Apart from that, they played pretty well for an hour.

"That said, I would have been disappointed had my team not scored more points in the first half with their dominance."