Parling doubts Steward and second fly-half will return before Leicester's season ends

Geoff Parling has cast serious doubt over whether Freddie Steward will play again for Leicester Tigers this season, striking a notably more cautious tone than he did a fortnight ago when the England full-back was first confirmed to have undergone thumb surgery.

Speaking to media on Wednesday ahead of Saturday’s second-place Gallagher Premiership clash with Bath at The Rec, Parling also indicated that one of his two injured fly-halves — Billy Searle or James O’Connor, without specifying which — faces the same race against time. “One of the 10s is closer than the others; the other 10 and Freddie, we will be lucky if we get them back before the season ends,” Parling said. “Let’s just keep plugging away and see where we get to.”

On the fly-half situation specifically, he added: “One still has some things to tick off before the weekend and one is definitely not playing.”

The injury concerns come off the back of a 35-26 home defeat to Exeter last Sunday — Leicester’s first loss at Mattioli Woods Welford Road this season. Parling handed Charlie Titcombe his first Premiership start at fly-half, while George Pearson deputised for Steward at full-back. Parling was broadly satisfied with Pearson’s performance, crediting the rookie with handling high balls well and scoring a try, though he felt the officials missed several infringements against him in the air.

“He was great. I was incredibly frustrated that we didn’t get penalties there, because they were penalties, and I have been told that they were, so I thought ‘Pearso’ was very good,” Parling said. “That’s his strength — under a high ball; he just needs to keep pushing on with his communication and adding that to the group, but I am really pleased with his first PREM start.”

With Titcombe’s audition considered less convincing, Parling’s most likely solution at 10 against Bath is Orlando Bailey, the former Bath player who has impressed at inside-centre this season as a second playmaker. Parling acknowledged he is reluctant to move Bailey from 12 but has no reservations about his ability to operate at fly-half if required.

“I would move Landy to 10, I’d have no problem there,” Parling said. “His distribution would be excellent, his comms would be excellent — it’s always the balance of the backline and who else is in there.”

Saturday’s fixture at The Rec carries significant Premiership table implications, with Leicester and Bath currently separated by a narrow margin in the race for a top-two finish.