Former England fly-half Toby Flood has claimed that George Ford has the right to feel aggrieved after being dropped from the team for Saturday's World Cup game against Wales.

Ford started as England kicked off the tournament with a 35-11 win over Fiji last Friday, but Stuart Lancaster decided against keeping faith with the 22-year-old and has recalled Owen Farrell.

After making his World Cup debut in a victory, Flood believes that Ford could struggle to recover from the setback of losing his place in the side.

"George hasn't done a huge amount wrong and I could see why he potentially was a little bit upset with the decision," Flood told Kicca.

"He would be allowed to be because ultimately he has been dropped when he hasn't actually played that badly.

"He has played a little bit hit and miss against France, a tough game against Fiji but that was always going to be the case. I think maybe this is going to hurt him a little bit mentally."

Sam Burgess and Billy Vunipola have also earned starts for Saturday's Pool A fixture at Twickenham.