England's first-choice scrum-half Alex Mitchell has been cleared to take part in his side's Six Nations opener against double defending champions Ireland on Saturday. 

Mitchell became a doubt for the Dublin showdown after suffering a knee injury on European duty for Northampton against Munster. 

But he has now been added to the 36-man squad and trained in Spain ahead of the match, clearing the path for his return against the tournament favourites.

Mitchell replaces Northampton team-mate Henry Pollock and is expected to be given the number nine jersey when head coach Steve Borthwick names his team on Thursday.

It will be his first Test appearance since facing New Zealand in Auckland in July after a neck injury ruled him out of England's entire November series. 

Mitchell is expected to be paired alongside Marcus Smith at half-back, with the Harlequins playmaker likely to continue to wear the number 10 shirt. 

It's a major boost for Borthwick, who lost Jamie George, Alex Coles, Alex Dombrandt and Jack van Poortvliet last week after they picked up injuries for their clubs. 

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Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence look set to pair up at centre for the 11th consecutive Test, with Freddie Steward set to start at full-back in place of the injured George Furbank.

Experienced centre Slade says continuity of selection is vital as England look to turn around a disappointing 2024 and take a major scalp in Dublin.

"The more you play with someone the more you get to know what they are doing in every situation," Slade told BBC Sport.

"The more I train with Ollie, the more I know what he likes and when he likes to be given the ball.

"My job as a second playmaker is to get the ball into players like his hands and Freemo's [Tommy Freeman] hands on the outside, just to let them do what they do."