JONNY Wilkinson has pledged to put any fears of injury to the back of his mind as he prepares to step up his preparations for the start of the domestic season, writes Scott Wilson.

The Newcastle Falcons fly-half has endured a torrid two years in which a succession of shoulder and ankle problems have forced him onto the sidelines for a series of prolonged spells.

His latest shoulder injury kept him out of the British Lions' final Test against New Zealand this summer but, after being given a clean bill of health at the start of Falcons' pre-season training, the World Cup winner is determined to make his mark on the forthcoming campaign.

"I don't want anything special from the season," said Wilkinson, who will leave for a two-game tour of Japan with the rest of the Newcastle squad on Sunday.

"I just want to be coming off the pitch thinking about what went right or what needs to be changed for the next game, not worrying about whether a problem is going to flare up again.

"I know I can't afford to think like that and I don't now. As far as I'm concerned, having an injury that's cleared up is no different to not having an injury in the first place. I'm no more likely to get injured now than anybody else is.

"I said I'd had a strange year at the start of last season - well this year has been even stranger.

"It's bad enough to have everything taken away from you for one year, but it becomes even harder to take when it happens all over again.

"I'm just looking forward to getting a run of rugby under my belt and starting to feel like a normal player again."

Newcastle fell away badly in the second half of last season, but Wilkinson is confident the addition of powerful newcomers such as Owen Finnegan, Andy Perry and Tino Paoletti will provide the physical strength that was lacking last year.

"In order to win rugby games, you have got to be able to dominate games up front," he said.

"You've got to be able to win ball and stamp your authority on the game.

"We've now got the quality and the size to be able to do that."