Maro Itoje on course for return ahead of Six Nations after suffering the 'most painful injury' of his career so far

Saracens feared Itoje would be ruled out for three months with a broken jaw but the forward is targeting a return within the next month

Maro Itoje is an injury doubt for England's Six Nations campaign (Rex)

Maro Itoje has confirmed that he is on course to return from his “most painful injury so far” in time for England’s Six Nations Championship defence, with the Saracens forward currently recovering from a fractured jaw.

The 23-year-old suffered two breaks to his jaw during this month’s defeat by Harlequins when it’s believed he collided with the head of England teammate Mike Brown. Itoje underwent surgery to have two metal plates inserted to help the bone repair, but talk of three months on the sidelines was soon dispelled by Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall, who claimed he expects Itoje to return in January ahead of the Six Nations.

Itoje has now confirmed the news, which will be music to the ears of both McCall and England head coach Eddie Jones, given the brilliant form that Itoje demonstrated in 2017 that led to him being nominated for the World Rugby Player of the Year award.

“All in all it's looking good, I'll be back on the pitch soon,” Itoje told the BBC. “When I first broke it they told me potentially up to three months out, and now I am well within my timeframe of four to six weeks.

“I'm not quite there yet – and still have a couple of weeks to go.”

Itoje suffered a broken hand last season that required him to undergo an operation and left him with a large scar, but he admitted that the fractured jaw hurt a lot more than the previous injury.

“It was sore - probably my most painful injury so far,” he added. “My jaw ballooned, and I turned into a black Buzz Lightyear! My chin was huge – I couldn't leave my house for a couple of days and was on blended food for a week or so, which was terrible.

“But thank God I am over that stage now, and eating a lot more normally now.”

Itoje needed surgery on the broken jaw he suffered three weeks ago (Getty)

The forward, who has been playing in the back-row for both Saracens and England despite being a natural lock, confirmed that he is back in light training after taking a week off following surgery and is focused on helping turn Sarries’ run of poor form around once he returns to the side, with the reigning European champions losing seven matches on the spin including the back-to-back defeats by Clermont Auvergne.