Harlequins number eight Tom Guest has admitted England's injury crisis means it is not beyond the realms of possibility for him to follow the footsteps of team-mate Nick Easter into the senior squad.

The 23-year-old will make his Saxons debut in Sicily on Saturday, 12 months after his back row rival enjoyed a 20-minute cameo against the Azzurri that led to a Six Nations debut.

Easter went on to star in his country's World Cup campaign that ended in a final defeat to South Africa eight months later.

Head coach Brian Ashton has recalled the fit-again number eight to his starting line-up in place of Luke Narraway.

Guest this week joined clubmates Mike Brown, Will Skinner, Danny Care and Adrian Jarvis in the Saxons squad.

The rising star, tipped as a future England number eight, believes the clash against Italy A gives him a golden opportunity to showcase the skills already earning him plaudits at the Stoop. And he reckons fly-half Jarvis could be the key to helping him make the step up.

"It is a stepping stone and I want to take as much out of the experience as possible," he said.

"Nick has proved you can progress if you play well and things go your way.

"All I can do is try to keep my place in the squad.

"It is good for me to have Adrian in the side because I know his game, he knows mine and we both suit an attacking style."

"We want to play a bit of rugby against Italy and, hopefully, there will be some space for me to get my hands on the ball and make an impact."

Guest is one of seven Quins players on England duty this week, and director of rugby Dean Richards has backed his youngsters to deliver this season, despite a poor run of just one win in their past 13 games.

And Guest believes wins for both England teams will give the squad a boost ahead of next week's clash with Worcester Warriors.

"You want to win every game, but around the Six Nations teams can be a bit weaker which gives you an opportunity to get on a bit of a run," he added.

"Good results for the England boys will give us a lift when we return to training next week."