Leicester Tigers captain Tom Youngs facing 10-week ban?

Leicester captain Tom Youngs will learn if he is to play any further part in the Tigers' battle against relegation when he appears before an independent disciplinary hearing on Wednesday evening.

Youngs was shown a red card in the second half of the Tigers' 52-20 Gallagher Premiership rout by Exeter on Saturday for making contact with the head of lock Ollie Atkins at a ruck.

The shoulder-led contact resulted in his dismissal by referee Tom Foley, triggering an automatic disciplinary hearing that will see the former England hooker charged with dangerous play in a ruck or maul.

The punishment if the offence is deemed low-end is a two-week suspension and the mid-range penalty is a six-week ban.

If the incident is viewed as serious, a top-end sanction of in excess of 10 weeks can be enforced.

Leicester have four matches left to stave off relegation so any suspension above low end could see them face Newcastle, Bristol, Harlequins and Bath without their captain.

They have already lost Youngs' younger brother Ben, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the season by a shoulder injury sustained at the end of England's Six Nations campaign.

Leicester are positioned third-from-bottom in the Premiership, only five points above basement club Newcastle, and the rivals clash at Kingston Park on Friday night.