Martin Johnson has said that he expects Lewis Moody to return to duty against Georgia this weekend.

The England captain was forced to sit out the team's Rugby World Cup opener against Argentina last Saturday due to the knee injury that kept him out of the Six Nations tournament.

However, coach Johnson has revealed that Moody should now be ready to don the armband for England's second fixture.

"Yeah, we anticipate him being there," Sky Sports News quotes him as saying. "We talked last week about where he was and he wasn't far off.

"He was running around in training last week and the week before, so another week's always better if you've been injured a long time, but at some point you've got to go, so we're hopeful."

England, who are currently second to Scotland in Pool B with four points, face Georgia in Dunedin on Sunday.