Bristol Bears will be without star winger Gabriel Ibitoye for all of January in what could prove to be a crucial month for the club who are looking to stay competitive on two fronts with a pair of huge games in both the Gallagher Premiership and Champions Cup to come.

Bristol sit second in the Premiership heading to Saracens on Saturday having never won at the StoneX Stadium since the club’s rebranding as the Bears in 2018. Pat Lam’s side are bottom of Pool 2 in the Investec Champions Cup having suffered defeats to Leinster and La Rochelle before Christmas but remain hopeful of finding a path through to the last 16 with the game against Benetton at Ashton Gate in two weeks' time pivotal to their chances of keeping their qualification chances alive.

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Ibitoye, who would have also been hopeful of having an outside chance of making England’s Six Nations squad, will certainly not be involved this month having suffered a leg injury in the 38-0 defeat to Sale Sharks after pulling put during a kick and chase.

Providing an update in midweek, Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam said: “Gabs Ibitoye will probably be out for four, five, maybe six weeks with his leg. It is not far off [too serious] but we just need to get that right.”

Ibitoye’s injury comes with Bristol’s other two first-choice three quarters also injured, with full-back Max Malins out for the rest of the season with an Achilles injury and powerhouse winger Siva Naulago looking to return in March from a calf injury.

Lam continued: “Noah Heward is back available as well and Kala [Kalaveti Ravouvou] can over the wing as well. We are certainly a bit short in our back three but we have enough players there.

“Toby Fricker is still around, we extended his loan out for another five or six weeks to make sure we are covered.

Heward has recovered from a hamstring injury suffered in pre-season training which required surgery to rectify and is yet to feature in 2024/25.

Elsewhere in the squad there is a boost in the front row with news that star loosehead prop Ellis Genge is available this weekend having pulled out on matchday against Sale.

Lam said: “Ellis had a back spasm last weekend, he was just unlucky against Sale. He trained all week and woke up on the day not right. He is back training and back firing.”