Exeter winger Alex Cuthbert has been ruled out for an extended period after being told he needs hamstring surgery.

Cuthbert's time at Exeter has been hit by injuries - he has played just 21 times and scored two tries since joining the Sandy Park club in 2018.

It comes as his replacement Tom O'Flaherty may have suffered his own hamstring issue in the win over Wasps.

"His hamstring is worse than we initially thought," Exeter boss Rob Baxter said of Cuthbert.

"It's one of those operations where we're not going to know how bad it is until they're in there and exploring it a little bit, so he's going to be out for a little while."

In Cuthbert's absence O'Flaherty has impressed. The winger has scored in his last three matches but limped off in the 38-3 win over Wasps meaning he could miss the back-to-back Champions Cup games with Sale.

"He came off very late looking like he's got a slight hamstring issue," Baxter told BBC Radio Devon.

"Whether that's cramp and he's going to be OK, or there's a little tear, we're going to have to wait and see.

"Even a slight tear will rule him out for a week or two, so we've just got to cross fingers and hope it's just more of a stiffness or a cramp, but we won't know for a while."

But Exeter have been boosted by the news at Olly Woodburn is available while Ollie Devoto is back in full training having injured his neck in the Premiership Cup.