Ryan Sidebottom has suffered another setback in his battle against injury problems to force his way back into England's one-day and Test side.

The Nottinghamshire left-arm seamer was on the verge of a recall to the one-day line-up for the third match in their seven match series with India, which begins at Green Park early tomorrow morning, when he suffered some untimely discomfort to his lower back.

He had a scan. But the results are inconclusive, and England are monitoring his movements before deciding on the next course of action.

Sidebottom's previous problems have included side and Achilles injuries, sidelining him from all international cricket since facing South Africa in the third Test at Edgbaston last August.

"He's having a bit of an unlucky run," said his Nottinghamshire and England team-mate Graeme Swann.

"He got injured during the summer and had a long rehabilitation trying to get back.

"It's a bit like Michael Owen back home - it's taken him so long to get back from a serious injury, and little niggles are keeping him out.

"As far as I'm concerned, I'm desperate to see Ryan playing again because he's one of my best mates - and I think English cricket needs that sort of haircut in the team.

"He's obviously down but he's the sort of character that can easily be distracted with an episode of 'Max and Paddy' or something like that, so it's not hard to keep his spirits up.

"He's just desperate like everyone else in the squad to get into the team and perform for England."

Despite Swann's upbeat assessment, there are grave concerns about Sidebottom's ability to withstand the rigours of international cricket - after he played 16 successive Tests up until his recent injury problems.

England are due to link up with the Performance Programme Squad when they travel to Bangalore on Friday - with players like Tim Bresnan, Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett waiting in the wings should Sidebottom fail to recover.

Sidebottom is yet to play a competitive match since England's arrival in India, having sustained Achilles problems during the trip to Antigua for the Stanford Series.

But speaking at the start of the tour, he was confident of coming back strongly and regaining his place.

"I've had a bad time with injuries. But there's nothing you can do about it - you've just got to get on with it," he said.

"I've been consistent and I've really enjoyed my time with England and I want to carry on playing international cricket. I'm part of the squad and I've got to fight for my place again."

Before England decide whether Sidebottom can remain a part of the squad after his latest injury setback, they must first find a way back into the one-day series following consecutive hammerings in Rajkot and Indore.

"We've done everything right in practice; we've hit the ground running in preparation, and it's just one of those things that we haven't clicked yet on the field - it's been as frustrating for us as it has for the fans back home," said Swann.

"I think it's been frustrating for everyone in the England camp. We played some really good cricket at the the back end of the summer in England and we haven't been able to hit the ground running over here, which is obviously what we intended to do."