Ian McGeechan is urging the match citing officer to investigate an incident which left London Wasps captain Serge Betsen needing nearly 20 stitches in a facial wound after the 22-14 defeat by Bath.

Club insiders allege the injury was caused by a Bath player's elbow and the citing officer has two weeks to study footage of the match and decide if anyone should face a Rugby Football Union disciplinary hearing.

Betsen will miss Sunday's clash with Newcastle - a match Wasps must win to keep alive their slim hopes of qualifying for next season's Heineken Cup. -m and having battled with injury problems and Test call-ups all season, the last thing director of rugby McGeechan needed was to lose the vastly experienced former France flanker.

"We have to hope that the citing officer looks into the incident because Serge has nearly 20 stitches in wounds below and inside his mouth and is understandably very sore at the moment," said McGeechan. "It is yet another blow we have suffered this season."

There has been some good news for Wasps, though, as England team manager Martin Johnson has given the go-ahead for Danny Cipriani to play his third game in a week. Although members of England's elite player squad are limited to the amount of games they can play, Wasps asked for permission to field Cipriani because injuries have left them short of options at No10.

Bath's victory over Wasps kept them firmly in contention for a play-off place with only two points separating the top four teams. The West Country side are third - because of an inferior points difference - behind Leicester and leaders Harlequins, who travel to face them at the Recreation Ground tomorrow.

The match offers Quins the chance of the first double over Bath for a decade and both teams were involved in mid-week fixtures which makes fatigue a factor tomorrow.

Quins tried to restrict the game time of England scrum-half Danny Care and props Ceri Jones and Mike Ross in the 60-14 win over Worcester, which also saw England No8 Nick Easter only used as a second-half replacement.

With the top of the Premiership being so tight, Quins have to put our their best XV tomorrow in a bid to move closer to securing a play-off place.

Dean Richards, the club's director of rugby, will be wary of Bath's physical threat and the home team's scrum was a potent weapon against Wasps, while Springbok Butch James provided the points through his trusty boot.

Richards said: "We still have three difficult games and, if we can make the play-offs I will be happy, but Bath are going to be very tough. Last year we only needed one win from the last three games, didn't get it and missed out on the play-offs.

"The team are more mature and I do believe we will get something from this season and we still have a Heineken Cup quarter-final with Leinster to come.

"My goal is to improve every season and we have the opportunity to achieve that aim. Our destiny is, to a great extent, in our own hands although we have two very hard away games at Bath and Sale to deal with. We finished sixth last year and should finish at least fifth and I am not going to put pressure on the guys by telling them they have to finish in the play-offs, but I will tell them to play to their potential and we are improving every season."

Fifth-placed London Irish can condemn Bristol to relegation and boost their own chances of making the play-offs by winning at Reading tomorrow.

The Exiles will be looking to England full-back Delon Armitage for inspiration in a team that will be led by veteran Mike Catt at outside-half. Leading points scorer Peter Hewat is fit again and starts on the bench, along with England lock Nick Kennedy.

Saracens hope to have Springbok No9 Neil de Kock available for the first time in ten weeks after his recovery from a broken arm as they travel to Worcester tomorrow. Mike Ruddock, the Worcester director of rugby, looks destined for the sack after that heavy loss to Quins, but will put out a much stronger team against Sarries.

Meanwhile, former England coach Andy Robinson is favourite to replace Frank Hadden as Scotland head coach, and become the first man from South of the border to hold that position. Hadden was axed after winning just one match in this season's Six Nations.