Eddie Jones has given a qualified vote of confidence to his captain, Owen Farrell, following last weekend’s Calcutta Cup defeat but says the captain will be treated “no differently” to other players if his form does not improve. Although Farrell endured one of his least effective days in an England jersey against Scotland, he appears set to feature again in the squad to face Italy. While the fly-half was far from the only England player to underperform against the Scots, Jones has the option of reinstating George Ford at No 10 and must now weigh up whether or not Saturday’s game was an unfortunate blip. “Owen was disappointed with his performance against Scotland,” said Jones. “Like a number of players, he wasn’t at his best. But like any outstanding player they can have a game where they’re not at their best. Is that a reason to drop the player? I wouldn’t think so. He’s been a highly consistent, highly successful player for us.” The 29-year-old Farrell, even so, will not be granted preferential status despite having played 89 Tests for England and racking up almost 1,000 points for his country. “Owen’s no different to any other player. It’s the same for anyone who’s the captain of the side, they’ve got to keep performing at a high level. But having one game where they’re not at the level expected is not a reason to start speculating on whether he’s going to be dropped or not.” Jones, who has welcomed back Mako Vunipola and Kyle Sinckler from injury and suspension respectively in place of Harry Williams and Tom West, also disputed that England are now in a slump after a poor start to the Six Nations. “You guys must have a new thesaurus. I always thought slump was about having three or four bad games. Now it must be one game,” he said. Selection wise Jones also insists he will not be spinning the roulette wheel against Italy unnecessarily. “We just felt that we held back a little bit against Scotland and we weren’t our usual vibrant selves. Usually when you have lost there’s a bit more emotion, which is normal, because you’re hurt. “But we’ll look at how we’d like to play, how we think the opposition will play and select the best 23. Regardless of the result of the previous game, that really doesn’t affect it. We have a plan to peak at the World Cup. No plan goes in a perfect straight line. There’s ups and downs and crests and troughs.” Wales will be without the injured Dan Lydiate, Tomos Williams, Johnny Williams and Hallam Amos for their visit to Scotland, while Nick Tompkins (shoulder) and George North (eye) are still being assessed. With Jonathan Davies still recovering from an ankle injury, it leaves the head coach, Wayne Pivac, short of midfield cover. James Botham, Lloyd Williams and Willis Halaholo have been called up. Peter O’Mahony will miss Ireland’s next three Six Nations matches after being sent off for a reckless challenge on Wales’s Tomas Francis during Saturday’s 21-16 defeat in Cardiff.