The Newcastle fly-half, England's record points-scorer, suffered possible knee ligament damage as Falcons crashed to a 39-23 Guinness Premiership defeat against Gloucester.

Wilkinson is set to undergo a scan on Wednesday, with both Newcastle and England anxiously awaiting its outcome.

England launch their November series against the Pacific Islanders at Twickenham on November 8 - followed by appointments with Tri-Nations contingent Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.

Wilkinson's latest setback, in a career blighted by repeated injury problems since his drop-goal won England the 2003 World Cup, comes as Test fly-half rival Danny Cipriani prepares to make a return from ankle damage against Bath tonight.

Newcastle rugby director Steve Bates said: "It looks like it is something to do with his left knee.

"It looks like it is some sort of ligament damage, but we will have to see how it settles down in the next couple of days.

"Jonny is a great competitor. He didn't want to come off. We hope it might not be as serious as it looked when he came off."