Bristol Bear’s late push for a place in top six of the Gallagher Premiership and a place in European Heineken Champions Cup is on.
After a shock 23-21 victory over defending champions Saracens on Saturday, Bristol are five points off the top six, Leicester are three points behind after beating Newcastle 27-22 on Friday night.
Why Bristol Bears should now be safe from relegation
Victory for the Bears, with Sale at home and Falcons away to come, would keep them in the mix to meet head coach Pat Lam’s pre-season target.
Today the Bears were handed a big boost as they prepare to go to Welford Road on April 27, with the news Leicester and England star Manu Tuilagi looks certain to miss the match.
The former British and Irish Lions centre limped off with a hamstring injury in the closing stages of Friday night’s win.
Tigers head coach Geordan Murphy said: "We haven't had a conclusive report on his hamstring yet but Manu definitely did something to it so he will be out for a period of time. “We're just not sure how long that will be.
"He has had hamstring injuries before so we are hoping we can speed that up and he will feature for us before the end of the season but he probably won't be in contention in the next couple of weeks."
That leaves Tigers short of first choice centres and once again needing to reshuffle their midfield with England international Kyle Eastmond also "touch and go" for the Bristol game as he continues to battle with a hamstring issue.
That leaves Murphy with Matt Smith or Mat Toomua to fill in, with the latter playing out of position at full back last week.
Number Sione Kalamafoni is set to return against Bristol having completed a three-match ban for his red card at Sale Sharks.
Meanwhile Bristol will be strengthened heading to Tigers with Tongan captain Siale Piutau set to be back in the side after returning from New Zealand for a family funeral.
The big question is will his brother Charles be available for selection?
"I can guarantee he will be playing before the end of the season” said Lam a couple of weeks ago as he confirmed he was progressing well with his rehabilitation."
