Scotland centre Nick De Luca is to undergo surgery on his lower abdomen – but it shouldn’t keep him out of the start of the season.

The 25-year-old will go under the knife of Manchester sports surgeon Ian MacLennan on August 4 but should be back for Edinburgh’s first Magners League fixture against Cardiff Blues exactly one month later.

And De Luca, who has 11 Scotland caps, admitted he had little choice but to get on the treatment table.

“I’ve been doing a lot of speed training, weight training and fitness on the bike but just at the top end of acceleration it starts to hurt and this surgery should mean I’m able to run at 100%,” De Luca said.

Edinburgh physio Torgney Johansson said: “Nic will have a repair of a lower abdomen tear. It’s an operation where we aim to get the player back available for selection in around four weeks.”