Eddie Jones has claimed England’s injury-hit squad will “hunt down” their Six Nations rivals after claiming the two-times defending champions have been written off before the start of the tournament.

Jones conceded his 35-man squad, which features eight uncapped players, was one of the most difficult he had put together as England’s head coach with Elliot Daly, James Haskell, Nathan Hughes and Billy Vunipola – who is expected to be sidelined for 12 weeks and absent for the entire Six Nations following a fractured forearm – among 13 players listed as unavailable.

Bath’s Zach Mercer has been promoted from apprentice to fully fledged member of the squad in the absence of Vunipola and the suspended Haskell but, with Beno Obano struck down with a knee injury, Jones has a major headache at loosehead. Ellis Genge (shoulder), Matt Mullan (ribs) and Joe Marler (suspension) are also out so one of the uncapped pair of Lewis Boyce or Alec Hepburn, both of whom have been called up for the first time, are in line for a place on the bench in England’s opener in Italy on 4 February.

England travel to Portugal for a training camp on Sunday and, in addition to those absent, Jones has fitness concerns over Mike Brown, Chris Robshaw, Hepburn and Jack Nowell while Ben Te’o has not played since October and Sam Underhill only once since November.

“If you read the papers, then we might as well not turn up,” said Jones. “As you’ve seen we’ve got 13 players out so we’ve got no hope. I’m not a bookmaker but I know we have a squad that’s good enough and that will work very hard and maximise the ability we have and put us in a position to win the Six Nations.

“This is version 26 [of the squad]. I was still on it at 10.30 last night. It has been one of the most difficult to put together because of the various situations with players. I’m really happy with it, excited by our prospects of doing well particularly as we’ve been written off. No one thinks we can win the Six Nations so we have got an opportunity to hunt the other teams down.”

Boyce, 21, has made only two Premiership starts since joining Harlequins over the summer but is in pole position for a place on England’s bench in Rome with Exeter’s Hepburn unable to train in Portugal until the end of the week because of a head injury. Robshaw (back) is in a similar position and Mike Brown, who was taken to hospital after reporting blurred vision last weekend, is unable to take part in contact training.

Furthermore Nowell, whom Jones intends to experiment with at outside-centre, has been rated as “touch and go” to play against Italy by his Exeter head coach, Rob Baxter.

“It’s becoming a bit of the norm but the exciting part for us is that we can still pick a strong squad – opportunities for some players that have been around the fringes,” added Jones.

Marcus Smith, who remains an apprentice player, Tom Dunn, Gary Graham, Harry Mallinder and Nathan Earle complete the uncapped octet with Jones admitting the unavailability of Vunipola and Haskell has forced the premature promotion of Mercer. “I’d prefer him to learn from Billy and Nathan who are both accomplished No 8s,” said Jones. “But the situation is sometimes you have to get on the front foot and you’ve got to face that new ball a bit quicker than you thought you would. He’s got to do that now.”