Gloucester being 'tested' by injuries - Skivington

Gloucester are being "tested" earlier than they would have liked this Prem season due to numerous injuries in the squad, says director of rugby George Skivington.

The Cherry and Whites are missing Arthur Clarke, Max Llewellyn, Josh Hathaway, Ben Redshaw, Val Rapava-Ruskin, Jamal Ford-Robinson, Lewis Ludlow and Jack Clement to injury for the trip to Bath on Saturday.

Ludlow, Llewellyn and Clement were all injured in the opening league defeat by Sale, while Clarke was injured in the run-up to the narrow loss to Northampton last weekend, with the rest of the absentees yet to feature this season.

"We're getting tested earlier than I would have liked or thought possible but it is what it is, you've got to ride the storm" Skivington told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

Lock Clarke is expected to be out for a couple of months, having broken a bone in his foot.

"Arthur, last season, broke a bone in his foot when he was away with England and it was recognised he had a bit of a bent bone, almost, that broke - unfortunately he's done the same in the other foot," Skivington said.

Back-row Ludlow broke his hand against the Sharks while Clement has had surgery on his ankle ligament after getting caught under a tackle in the same match.

Full-back Redshaw, who signed from Newcastle this summer, is yet to debut for the club after also having surgery on a foot injury sustained while on duty for England Under-20s this summer.

"Hopefully he might be able to make an appearance in the Prem Cup - if not, he should be available for the second Prem block," Skivington said.

Ford-Robinson is expected to be back around a similar time when the Prem returns after the international break in December, but Skivington has no prognosis on how long fellow prop Rapava-Ruskin will be sidelined with a recurring knee injury that has kept him out since early May.

"I honestly wouldn't have an answer for you on that at the moment," Skivington said.

"He's had issues with both knees and we've tried various ways of managing it and programmes, really over the last two and a half years, and nothing really seems to be getting us through that sticky spot.

"He's had another procedure, I think the medical team is quite confident they've got to the bottom of this with this procedure."

A 'challenge' to throw new signings all in

Gloucester have picked up two points from their opening two Prem losses of the season.

They recruited heavily over the summer after 19 players left, but the injuries, added to the many new faces, have forced Skivington to introduce players earlier than he planned.

Against the Saints they went 31-0 down in the first half before fighting back to lead 35-34, only to lose to a late penalty.

"You saw on the weekend the combinations didn't quite click until the second half and you're seeing a lot of our new signings and our young talent very early," Skivington said.

"In an ideal world those guys are getting drip fed in around guys who have been around the system - particularly the attacking system.

"It's an intense system the attack - you've got a lot of timing, a lot of detail and it's a challenge when you throw in all these new signings and hope everyone will come together.

"You saw that around defence as well - there were four misreads in defence on the weekend around a couple of new combinations."