Steve Meehan is keen to bring in temporary cover for injured Bath locks Peter Short and Danny Grewcock.

Short underwent surgery on a damaged thumb on Wednesday, while Grewcock is likely to miss at least two months with a foot injury which also required an operation.

The injuries leave head coach Meehan with just Stuart Hooper and Justin Harrison as recognised senior second-rows, with back-row men Jonny Fa'amatuainu and Andy Beattie on standby to cover any further injuries.

Meehan also has England Under-20 star Scott Hobson to call upon – but is scouring the market for a short-term signing to bolster his options in the pack.

"In the very short-term, Andy Beattie and Jonny Fa'amatuainu will cover the second row," said Meehan.

"But we are talking with some players about coming in. We can use the injury allowance, so someone could join us for the rest of the season. We are certainly looking at boosting that area."

Meehan is not yet sure how long Short will be sidelined for – but a best-case scenario would see him return at Worcester in mid-February.

"He has had surgery and there were a couple of different options with regard to what was happening – and they all depended on what they saw when they got in and had a look," said Meehan.

"We will see – perhaps he will be available not long after the break at the end of January."

Bath have been unable to train on grass so far this week, so they have been travelling by coach to Bristol for sessions on an all-weather surface.

Meanwhile, the Recreation Ground remains under covers – and Bath have brought in outdoor heaters in an attempt to ensure Saturday's clash with Wasps goes ahead.

"This is a massive game for us and a huge challenge," said Meehan.

"It's a weekend we are certainly looking forward to and we really want to make sure that the groundsman gets enough heat under this ground so we can play.

"They will do everything they possibly can to make sure we're good to go. It's important that we play this fixture – we are looking forward to it and don't want it to be off.

"From our point of view, the timing of the fixture couldn't be better.

"The pitch has been hard for a while, but they have brought in some heating equipment which will be functioning between now and matchday, so hopefully it will be OK."

Winger Matt Banahan could come back into the reckoning for Bath after overcoming the neck injury which kept him out of Sunday's 24-22 defeat at Leicester.

And Harrison and skipper Michael Lipman are both fully fit after illness forced them to drop to the bench at Welford Road, having initially been named in the Bath starting line-up.