Jonny May is set to be fit for England’s four-Test autumn campaign, which begins against South Africa next month, but the shoulder injury he sustained during Leicester’s 23-15 victory against Northampton at Twickenham may rule him out of his club’s opening two Champions Cup fixtures.

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May left the field after seven minutes when he ran into the Northampton No 8 Teimana Harrison and sustained a blow on his right shoulder. His arm was put in a temporary sling and he spent the rest of the first half sitting with the Leicester replacements with an ice pack on his shoulder.

Leicester’s director of rugby, Geordan Murphy, said May had suffered a stinger rather than a dislocation. “He got a bang directly on the point of his shoulder and it was sore rather than severe,” he said. “It is the sort of injury where sometimes you can strap him up and play, or it takes a few weeks. We have to wait.”

May is Leicester’s top scorer this season with five tries. He would have had six if he had remained on the field on Saturday with his replacement, Jordan Olowofela, finishing off a Jonah Holmes counterattack, and he is a key player for England having touched down in his last five Tests.

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“Jonny is world class, one of the best wings around, but if we are without him for the start of Europe we will have to deal with it,” the Leicester captain, Tom Youngs, said. “You cannot have the attitude that if he is not there we are not going to win.

“Jonny has been very good for us and we would miss him, but there is more to the team than one player. We have Jordan and he has to step up. He has been in the background and if he gets his opportunity he has to take it.”

Leicester’s victory against their east Midlands rivals took them, briefly, into the top four, one month after the sacking of Matt O’Connor as director of rugby was followed by a home defeat against Worcester. They finished the opening month of the campaign with the worst defensive record in the Premiership.

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“We have been criticised for our defence but things are starting to come through,” Youngs said. “After the start we had, we have tried to make adjustments while trying to win matches and it is difficult. If you want to win anything, defence is a vital element. We have not been good enough and we are not kidding ourselves.

“We have been low on confidence there but we can take a lot from the victory over Northampton where we had to dig deep and defend. Now we can look forward to Europe and it will be a big test for us.”

The England squad scrum-half Dan Robson is a doubt for the autumn after sustaining an ankle injury during Wasps’ defeat against Gloucester, while the Sale wing Marland Yarde faces at least six months out after sustaining a dislocated knee during the victory against Newcastle.

• This article was amended on 8 October 2018 because Marland Yarde dislocated his knee, not his kneecap as an earlier version said.