Saints handed triple injury boost

Tom Stephenson has overcome the broken leg sustained in the pre-season friendly against Rotherham Titans at Franklin's Gardens in August.

George Pisi is on the comeback trail after suffering a shoulder injury in the Champions Cup defeat to Leinster in Dublin in December.

And Luther Burrell is also closing in on a return after recovering from an ankle injury sustained in the home win against Castres in January.

"Luther is back in training, as is Tom Stephenson, so that's really good," said Saints boss Jim Mallinder.

"We've lost three of our senior centres in Tom, Luther and George Pisi.

"It's good to see all three of them back out there running and hopefully we can pick them very soon."

More good news for Saints comes from the England setup, with Teimana Harrison and Paul Hill available to face Sale Sharks at the AJ Bell Stadium on Friday night.

Harrison has not been selected for England's 27-man training camp, which started in Oxford on Tuesday evening and concludes on Friday.

Hill was included, but he will be released in time for the Aviva Premiership game in Salford.

Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes and Tom Wood will remain with England to prepare for their next Six Nations game, against Scotland on March 11.

Louis Picamoles and George North are still with France and Wales respectively and will also be unavailable on Friday night.