Harlequins coach Tony Diprose has insisted that George Lowe will be eased back into the fold having made his competitive return to action this week.

The 23-year-old, who has missed the last 12 months with a career-threatening neck injury, played an hour of the Quins' 27-3 A League defeat to Saracens earlier this week.

However, Diprose says that Lowe will have to win back his place after getting back up to full fitness.

"George has worked incredibly hard," the Kingston Guardian quotes him as saying. "He has been through some very tough times in that year when there have been some doubts whether he would actually come back at all.

"Clearly we're not going to throw him straight back in at the deep end, but we expect to see a competitive George Lowe push himself back through into the first team over the next month. He is a very high quality Premiership player, who has gone on England tours and there is a reason for that.

"Tom Casson and Matt Hopper were outstanding at the weekend and they are the ones in possession of the shirt, so someone will have to grab it back by their performances. We're not putting any pressure on him in getting back to the first team. That will happen when he is ready."

Harlequins return to action on Friday night when they travel to face an out of sorts Leicester Tigers side.