Martin Johnson, the England team manager, has welcomed the return of Danny Cipriani from injury but has described Jonny Wilkinson's latest setback as "very upsetting".

Wilkinson dislocated his knee during Newcastle Falcons' match with Gloucester nine days ago and will not be in contention for England until the RBS Six Nations.

He underwent successful surgery last week, but it leaves Johnson without England's record points-scorer for the Twickenham clashes against the Pacific Islands, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand next month.

"It is very upsetting when you see that for a guy who has had a lot of injuries during the last four or five years to get hurt again," Johnson said. "But he's a strong guy. He's had surgery, which has gone well, and we look forward to him coming back.

Cipriani, who ended last season's Six Nations as England fly half, is likely to be promoted from the England Saxons squad to replace Wilkinson in Johnson's 32-man elite group. The Wasps back began his comeback from an horrific ankle injury just 24 hours after Wilkinson was hurt.

"It's great for Danny to be back," Johnson added. "I spoke to him on the Monday after he had hurt himself and he was already talking about getting back.

"We have been in contact the whole way with him, as we would do with any injured player. Danny has worked incredibly hard, as have the people around him. But the day before he comes back, Jonny gets hurt.

"The No 10 position is very competitive - there is some good depth there.

"Jonny is obviously the most experienced guy there, but Toby Flood is playing well at Leicester, Olly Barkley can play ten and 12, so can Shane Geraghty, and Danny's back as well, with Andy Goode and Ryan Lamb in the Saxons."

England's toughest matches may come against the Tri-Nations heavyweights, but Johnson has warned of the Pacific Islands' danger in his first match as team manager.

"With the teams we are playing against, you want to keep the ball away from them, which starts in the first game against the Pacific Islands," Johnson said. "Those guys will look to play off poor kicks, from broken play and turnover ball. They will kill you if you do that.

"They don't play that many games. We know the players they've got, but you have less to go on in terms of the style they will play. We do know they've got some great athletes in players like (Seilala) Mapusua and (Sailosi) Tagicakibau, who can really run the ball and are powerful and strong.

"They will want to come and play. They will feel they've got nothing to lose in a way, coming to Twickenham. They will be dangerous - it is not a warm-up game, it is a full-on Test match."

Meanwhile, Johnson has thrown his support behind the squad for the autumn internationals, despite some of his choices struggling for form.

"When we picked the squad in July, we had to back our judgement," Johnson said. "There is a good blend of experienced players and some very exciting young guys with a lot of talent, but a lot less experience.

"Within that, there are always guys going to be injured, and we can bring guys into replace them, so we are very comfortable with how it works.

"We are backing the guys we've picked. There are some very good players in there, and we are happy to have them in the squad.

"There are at least two, maybe three, options in any one position within the squad. If we were playing tomorrow, we would know what our team is."