England prop Andrew Sheridan is almost certain to miss the entire RBS 6 Nations, according to one of the UK's leading orthopaedic surgeons.

Sheridan was ruled out for four months by his club Sale last Monday after it was revealed he required a full reconstruction of his left shoulder.

"To determine the extent of the injury I would expect he had a scan followed by a surgical repair with either open or arthroscopic surgery," said Simon Moyes, who works at the Wellington Hospital. "Patients (in these cases) are normally in a sling for six weeks and then undertake an extensive physiotherapy/rehabilitation programme. I would therefore expect Andrew Sheridan to be out of action for at least six months from the time of surgery."