Ospreys hooker Dewi Lake is a major doubt for the west Wales derby against the Scarlets this weekend, with a bicep injury that could concern Wales too ahead of the Six Nations.

The Wales captain is currently being assessed after suffering the injury, after being injured in training.

At a time when both club and country are struggling, any significant injury to Lake would be a hefty blow - given how talismanic the 25-year-old has been in the last year.

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Despite the efforts of Lake - who has been commended for his leadership in a testing year - Wales are winless in over 12 months, while the Ospreys have endured a tough start to the season - with head coach Toby Booth departing this week, seven months earlier than scheduled.

Losing Lake for what could be the last west Wales derby at the Swansea.com Stadium would certainly hamper new head coach Mark Jones' plans, although the mid Walian hasn't ruled out the hooker just yet.

"We are just checking on Dewi," said Jones. "He's being assessed this week and we're waiting to finally hear back on what that looks for us.

"We're going to leave that one as long as we can because he's an important player and we've love to have him around. But I honestly can't give positive or negative feedback on that. I'm waiting to hear back myself on some clarity.

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"I never rule anyone out until the educated people who understand these things give me the results and scans. We're seeking some advice and once we get that, we'll respond.

"He took an accidental bump in training, either a knee or an elbow to his bicep. We're just assessing what that looks like at the moment, in terms of what part of the bicep and what needs to be done, if anything, to get him in a position to play."

Last week's record European defeat in France also saw the Ospreys lose captain Jac Morgan, Gareth Thomas and Owen Williams to injury, although the news on those three is looking more optimistic.

"They're looking good," added Jones. "We had one eye on this weekend with some rotation of the squad and we had an idea of the minutes we'd like players to play during the Montpellier game.

"Obviously, that was influenced by the scoreboard a little bit at the time. When the scoreboard got to what it did at 50 minutes, you have to start thinking about what's coming.

"There was definitely some thought process behind that from the coaches last week. We left some players behind and we've got some coming back from injury.

"There's been a little bit of everything in our selection this week, but we're hoping those players will be around on matchday this week."