James Inglis is hoping to put a nightmare year behind him by returning for Esher in Saturday’s British and Irish Cup showdown against Llanelli.

The English Counties lock has been out since January with toe ligament damage sustained in the win at London Scottish.

Inglis, 24, has seen several specialists over the months but has suffered a series of frustrating setbacks that have prevented him from pulling on the Esher shirt.

But Inglis has come through a handful of second-team games and director of rugby Mike Schmid has pencilled him in for a place on the bench for the home clash against the Welsh side.

Schmid said: “It will be great to have James back. He has been a brilliant player for us but has had an incredibly frustrating year.

“He has been to see different specialists about the toe injury and that has not helped.

“Every time he has been close to getting back he has had minor setbacks.

“But we are being as careful with him as we can. He has come through a few second-team games and we hope to have him on the bench against Llanelli.”

Schmid is also expected to have a look at Canada scrum-half Jamie Mackenzie against Llanelli or in next week’s B&I Cup game at Melrose.

Mackenzie, 21, is the younger brother of Esher centre Phil Mackenzie, who is out of Saturday’s game after being concussed in Test action in Canada’s 23-20 win in Portugal last month.

Meanwhile, Esher have lost the services of former England A scrum-half Clive Stuart-Smith for the season and are looking to add greater depth to the squad.

Schmid said: “Jamie’s been here for just over a week and we are hoping he will fit into the system.

“He works hard, is quick and has a good pass but has not had any game time yet.”

Schmid is likely to name a strong line-up to face Llanelli after last week’s home Championship clash with Nottingham was called off because of the weather.

Esher’s next three games: Dec 11 Llanelli (B&I Cup, h), 18 Melrose (B&I Cup, a), 21 Nottingham (h).