LIONS MANAGER Fran Cotton yesterday revealed that there are Just "three or four" vacancies in the 35-man squad to tour South Africa this summer.

Ireland wing Simon Geoghegan will be among those players commanding special late attention, given his likely Bath comeback against West Hartlepool next Thursday.

"Simon is in our 62, so we would like an opportunity to assess his fitness during the West Hartlepool match," Cotton said.

If 37 times-capped Geoghegan shows no ill-effects from delicate toe surgery to cure a bone structure weakness, then he has every chance of pinning down a Test place alongside Wales star and favourite for the Lions captaincy, Ieuan Evans.

But Cotton will not confirm whether England captain Phil de Glanville is among several candidates launching a concerted, last ditch bid for Lions recognition.

De Glanville, deemed no better than Britain and Ireland's eighth-best centre by Cotton and his fellow selectors, has mounted a powerful late challenge to join the Lions in mouth Africa.

Try-scoring displays against Scotland and Wales, plus his mature supervision of England's record-breaking Five Nations points blitz, have seen him move up rapidly on the rails.

Cotton, Lions coach Ian McGeechan and the selection panel meet in Birmingham tomorrow night, their penultimate gathering before the eagerly awaited April 2nd announcement.

Letters went out this week to a small group of players, including Ireland's Paul Burke and former Wales captain and 1989 Lion Robert Jones, about their availability, suggesting a possible non travelling, stand-by list will be drawn up for the tour.

The Lions tourists could receive up to £11,000-a-man in bonuses, according to reports yesterday. Each player will earn a £10,000 basic tour fee.