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As Leicester's Richard Blaze becomes the latest England casualty, Oval Talk asks what expectations we should now have of Martin Johnson's side ahead of their challenging November series.

It seems you cannot pick up a newspaper these days without reading of another England player joining Johnson's extensive injury list.

On the last count, Johnson was unable to call on 19 players who would have been there or thereabouts in terms of squad selection for the game with Australia at Twickenham on Saturday.

Some of these players may become available later in the month for the clashes with Argentina and New Zealand, but as it stands England are hardly in a position of strength, especially when you consider that 10 of the injured would likely have started against the Wallabies.

Perhaps only New Zealand and South Africa would be able to cope with such a loss and still remain competitive, and we will see on Saturday whether England's playing resources run as deep as Johnson and the RFU hope they do.

As one would expect, there have been no complaints from Johnson and his coaching team and one wonders whether the situation may in fact turn out to be a blessing in disguise by forcing their collective hand.

After all, the former England skipper has a record of turning to proven internationals ahead of younger, less experienced players, no matter the form they have been showing for their clubs.

Johnson is a pragmatist who sees winning the next game as all important. Look after the result and player development will follow.

It is important to establish whether or not England have been significantly weakened by their injury list? They may be missing at least 10 regular starters, but are these players that much better, or better at all, than those currently available to Johnson?

Recent results suggest they are. Johnson's side struggled badly in their November series last year, but made decent progress during the Six Nations before going backwards in the drawn summer series with Argentina when they were without their Lions players.

Phil Vickery, Andrew Sheridan, Simon Shaw, Lee Mears, Riki Flutey, Tom Croft and Harry Ellis were all with the Lions in South Africa and all bar Croft are again unavailable through injury, or making their way back from injury.

This month England are also without full-back Delon Armitage and number eight Nick Easter, two of their better performers in the past 12 months.

It stands to reason then that we should lower our expectations of England over the next month, that we should perhaps put performance and development ahead of the three results.

All three of the opposition are higher than England in the IRB world rankings, and while Australia had a torrid time in the Tri-Nations and are missing several key players, they will - at the very least - be hardened by regular battles with the Springboks and All Blacks.

The Pumas are also missing a few star names and the current New Zealand side can hardly be described as vintage, despite having Dan Carter and Richie McCaw in their ranks.

None, however, are in the precarious position of England in terms of injuries and as a result OT feels Johnson should use the next three games to develop players for the future, with one eye firmly on the 2011 World Cup.

Give the likes of Ben Foden, Courtney Lawes and Matt Banahan the chance to show what they can do at this level, and hand Steffon Armitage (pictured), Dylan Hartley, Nick Kennedy, James Haskell and Shane Geraghty another opportunity to replicate their club form in the red rose of England.

And that includes a game-plan, and the responsibility, that allows them to play to their strengths.

In terms of results, it may not give Johnson the best chance of reaching the end of this month in credit, but he would at least have blooded a number of players for the future and gained valuable information on their England potential.

There is a good chance England will lose all three of their games irrespective of who they put out, so why not take advantage of a difficult situation?

OT's England XV v Australia:

15-Ben Foden, 14-Matt Banahan, 13-Dan Hipkiss, 12-Shane Geraghty, 11-Ugo Monye, 10-Jonny Wilkinson, 9-Danny Care; 8-James Haskell, 7-Steffon Armitage, 6-Tom Croft, 5-Nick Kennedy, 4-Courtney Lawes, 3-David Wilson, 2-Dylan Hartley (capt), 1-Tim Payne.

Terence O'Rorke / Eurosport