YORKSHIRE have suffered a blow with news that Tim Bresnan is set to miss the start of the county season due to injury.

Bresnan's setback, to his left Achilles tendon, occurred during the early stages of the MCC's second innings of the champion county match in Abu Dhabi last week.

Headingley coach Jason Gillespie initially played down the issue but it is much worse than first feared.

The county are expected to confirm the timeframe of the all-rounder's absence when they receive scan results later this week.

Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale confirmed the news while speaking at Emirates Old Trafford as part of an England and Wales Cricket Board launch for the new season.

Gale said: "The (pre-season) tour itself was a packed schedule, which was a good thing. The disappointment was that Bresnan went down injured.

"He had a scan (on Tuesday), which doesn't look that great. It's his Achilles. We aren't sure how long he will be out but I don't think he will start the season, which is a bit of a blow.

"But I guess if you would want to miss him, it would be at the start because we'll have a lot of the England players coming back.

"He bowled beautifully on tour. He missed the T20s because he didn't feel quite right but the first innings of the MCC game he got four-for and showed what good skills he has on flat pitches.

"That is something that we will need, given that teams are probably going to produce flat pitches against us this year.

"He will be one of the main bowlers. He averaged 32 with the ball and over 40 with the bat last season, so he would get in any team in the country on those stats.

"He gives us tremendous balance in the team and he will be missed for that reason."

As Gale said, at least Yorkshire will have cover. They are expecting to have their full quota of England players available for the Championship opener against Hampshire at Headingley on April 17, barring Joe Root.

Star batsman Root is set for a period of rest but he will play for Yorkshire before the start of the summer Test series against Sri Lanka on May 19.

One potential replacement for Bresnan is new signing David Willey, currently with England on World T20 duty.

Willey's all-round ability with the white ball will make him a first-choice selection in Yorkshire's limited-overs teams but he is far from a certainty for the Championship team.

Gale said: "His expectations were spelt out to him when he joined the club. He's not going to be like he was at Northants – the guy we throw the ball to in red-ball cricket whenever we need a wicket. He's going to have to work hard to get into the side to start with.

"But I believe you need seven to nine front-line seamers to win the Championship. They buy into it up until they get left out, so I'll have a headache there, but Ryan Sidebottom isn't going to play 16 games – there's no way.

"We have to find a variety in our attack on different wickets. We struggled on flatter wickets last year but I think David will give us a different dimension on flatter wickets."