Welsh back row men Dan Lydiate and James King will learn in the next few weeks when they are likely to be able to return to playing action for the Ospreys in the new season.

Lydiate picked up two injuries while captaining Wales in their pre-New Zealand tour match against England at Twickenham in May. He has undergone surgery for his dislocated shoulder and has also received treatment for a hamstring problem.

Those injuries forced him to miss the three-Test tour to New Zealand in June, a trip which saw King injure his neck in the midweek defeat to the Chiefs. Both players will be using the next block of their pre-season training programme to work his way back to fitness

"Dan is recovering well from surgery to reconstruct the shoulder ligaments he damaged in the England game. In addition, he also injured his hamstring in the same match," said Chris Towers, Medical Performance Manager at the Ospreys.

"He's recovering well on both fronts but still has some work to do. We'll be looking to up the ante through this next batch of pre-season with a view to being able to confirm a return to play date in the next few weeks.

"James is recovering from a neck injury he picked up in New Zealand. He's progressing well but we will continue to observe his recovery and progress over the coming weeks before we will be in a position to confidently predict when he will be available for selection."

The Ospreys kick-off their Guinness PRO12 season at the Liberty Stadium with a home clash against Zebre on 2 September, but will warm-up for their competitive campaign with friendlies against Leicester Tigers (home on 12 August and away on 26 August) and Belgium on 19 August.