Alex Corbisiero will miss England's autumn Tests after suffering a shoulder injury.

The Northampton prop was hurt during Saints’ 31-24 Aviva Premiership victory over Bath at Franklin’s Gardens last Saturday.

And Northampton have now announced that he will be sidelined “until early 2015” due to a ligament tear.

Corbisiero, 26, has had a recent history of serious knee trouble, and this latest setback will come as a major blow for both his club and England head coach Stuart Lancaster.

In a statement, Northampton said: “Northampton Saints has today announced that Alex Corbisiero has sustained a ligament tear to his shoulder that will keep the England prop out of action until early 2015.

“Corbisiero sustained the injury in the second half of the Saints’ Aviva Premiership round four game against Bath, with the specialist’s advice being that the tear needed surgical repair so that he can play to an optimum level in the future.

“The Saints and England medical teams are liaising on Corbisiero’s treatment and recovery.”

Lancaster is due to announce his latest elite player squad in three weeks' time, and Corbisiero would undoubtedly have been a major part of selection plans the following month when England host New Zealand, South Africa, Samoa and Australia.

And it deepens Lancaster's headache in terms of front-row options as Saracens loosehead Mako Vunipola (knee) and Leicester tighthead Dan Cole (neck) are not expected to be fit for the autumn campaign.

Corbisiero has won 19 caps and starred for the 2013 British and Irish Lions after being summoned as an injury replacement from England's Argentina tour, scoring a try during the series-clinching third Test win against Australia in Sydney.

He is regarded as one of the finest all-round props in northern hemisphere rugby and his latest injury also means he will miss a number of games for Northampton, including at least four of their European Champions Cup fixtures, such as tough pool matches against Racing Metro and the Ospreys.