"He said 'Steve, I'll be back'" - England Autumn Squad: Borthwick updates on George Ford and Henry Slade's injury returns

There has been an assortment of injury updates within Steve Borthwick's squad, with the status of numerous leading players updated after recent breaks on the side-lines. Borthwick expressed the conditioning of the likes of Henry Slade, Alex Mitchell, Fraser Dingwall and George Ford, whilst also providing some clarity on the current role of departing defence coach Felix Jones.

England commence their Autumn Nations Series campaign on Saturday November 2nd, with a blockbuster battle lined up against the All Blacks. The Autumn schedule is a relentless one for England, as they are booked in for fixtures with New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Japan across back-to-back November weekends.

Add in the excitement of the England A match against Australia A next month, and there was plenty for Borthwick to delve into. Here are the top five talking points, from Steve Borthwick's Autumn Nations squad announcement.

The first of four injury updates provided by the England head coach, was Steve Borthwick issuing a status on his absent scrum half Alex Mitchell. The Northampton Saints man has not been in action since England's Summer tour of New Zealand, with the halfback on the mend from a neck injury, and has yet to feature in green, black and gold this season.

STEVE BORTHWICK: "We're assessing and given the nature of the neck injury we're ensuring we do everything absolutely right by Alex. Northampton have been doing a great job in that regard. He had an assessment a week or so ago that showed some signs of improvement. There's another assessment in a few weeks.

Clearly for the autumn series that's just upon us, that's very tight. I don't want to be ruling players in or out in that circumstances but it's clearly very, very tight. The good thing is that we've got plenty of very good nines in this country. Alex is outstanding and has established himself as the starting nine in the England shirt. We're disappointed that right now he's not available, and we wish him as quick a recovery as possible."

An exciting upside to the latest England squad announcement, was the unexpected inclusion of Exeter Chiefs centre Henry Slade. The midfielder has been absent from the Chiefs so far this season, having been recovering from shoulder surgery he had delayed until the off-season. Slade featured for England in the Summer tour matches against New Zealand, and Borthwick is hopeful to have the playmaker back in time for the Autumn.

STEVE BORTHWICK: "The nature of a shoulder injury means that physically there's a lot you can do from a running perspective, which is one of the great assets of Sladey's game. In that sense we know that he's fit. The contact elements have been progressing as his shoulder has got stronger.

"Speaking to him at the alignment camp here last week when he was continuing his rehab, he feels really good. Our conversations with Rob Baxter are really positive. He's undergoing further assessments and tests at the end of this week and Rob and I said we’d have another conversation at the end of this week when we have more information about the next steps.

"That's one of the possibilities that's being considered (playing for Exeter before the Autumn). It's something that Rob and I have talked about. We just need that further information from the end of the week from the assessments.

"It's also about what Sladey himself feels he needs to do. This is an experienced player now with more than 60 Tests. These players know exactly what they need to do to be ready to play. The good thing is that he's fit, he's really positive and every confident about the next steps."

England and Sale Sharks fans held their collective breath, as they witnessed fly half George Ford pull up with a tear to his right quad. Ford's injury was a bizarre won, as he pulled up after a kick at goal, just seven minutes into Sale's match against Saracens at the StoneX Stadium. Ford's initial diagnosis was not a preferable one, with the halfback determined to defy the odds for a return to the pitch ahead of schedule.

STEVE BORTHWICK: "George rang me a few weeks ago, shortly after the injury had been diagnosed and he said... we'd both had the medical and scan reports and he was very clear. He said "Steve, I know what it says and I'm going to beat that and be back a lot quicker than that". He said "Steve I'll be back" and he's doing really well.

"I spoke to him a couple of days ago, he's done plenty of running, he's done goal-kicking already and he's running again today and Friday and he'll continue his rehab with us next week. Sale have been excellent, the medical team have liaised with ours, and the way Alex has approached it has been top-class. It's been no surprise that with George's attitude, he's doing as well as he is."

Borthwick's midfield plans were further thinned out, after Fraser Dingwall sustained a knee injury in a recent match for Northampton Saints. The centre was ruled out of Borthwick's plans, with Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence and Alex Lozowski providing the options in the 12 and 13 shirts.

STEVE BORTHWICK: "Fraser took a knock a few weeks ago. He's been managing that, playing really well and managing that. There's a bit more assessment into that last week means he needs a period of offloading so that's then meant we're not sure how much on-field time he'd have next week with us.

"We made a decision that he should stay at Northampton for next week, we'd assess it thereafter where he's at. I spoke to Fraser a couple of days ago regarding that. He's very positive about the recovery he's having from this knock. We don't anticipate him missing for a very long time. A short turnaround."

Despite departing the England team after the Summer tour of Japan and New Zealand, former defence coach Felix Jones will be working in a remote role with Borthwick's staff. The Irishman has been confirmed to take up an analysis role, with a focus upon unearthing the secrets of England's opponents. Jones will also have a help in handing over the defensive reins to Joe El-Abd, who has arrived at Twickenham as defence coach.

STEVE BORTHWICK: "What it entails, the specific projects regarding analysis is one of Felix's great strengths as a coach. His analysis and study of the opposition so he's doing that and the other part is his handover and transition to Joe El-Abd taking our defence going forward and I think that's also important.

"Felix has been great in the work he's done and the preparation and you've got somebody who has that knowledge and is that good at analysing the opposition. Now, I feel fortunate that Joe has been able to join us so quickly, which has meant that there's no requirement for Felix in camp.

"And clearly Felix has decided to go in a different direction which means with the coach of the quality of Joe in camp it means will we have that transition which has gone well and now it's Joe leading the defence."