Easter
missed the 41-10 victory over Georgia after suffering a lower back injury and
he remains sidelined for Saturday's Pool B clash with Romania.
Leicester No
8 Thomas Waldrom has been flown out to Dunedin and is on stand-by to replace
Easter if he fails to recover.
Johnson said
Easter is "progressing", but a final call will have to be made on
Sunday when England travel to
Auckland to begin preparations for their decisive showdown with Scotland.
"Nick's
progressing. We'll see where we are after Saturday," said Johnson.
"Nick's
not had this injury before, it's just one of those where we're hoping he's
going to be good to go next week.
"All the
signs are he will be. It looks good but these things are day to day. We've got
to (make a decision) after the game.
"He'd
be a loss. That's why we had guys in through the camp. Thomas was in learning
what we do, so if the situation arises he can put himself in contention pretty
quickly.
"I
think Nick will be okay. He's desperate to get back and play but we'll see how
it progresses over the next 48 hours."
James
Haskell will start at No 8 in Easter's absence, having also successfully
deputised for Lewis Moody at openside in England's tournament-opening victory
over Argentina.
Haskell's
form means there is no guarantee Easter would come straight back into the team
to play Scotland, even if he was fully fit.
"(Haskell)
came in last week for us at short notice and he's done very well," Johnson
said.
"He's
keen to improve and when he's been in the team, he's often covering multiple
positions depending on who we have on the bench.
"At
times he's covered all three, so he has to know all those roles and he's done a
good job of it - he's playing well and he's a useful player to have with his
utility."
England are
still to replace injured prop Andrew Sheridan in their squad, with Johnson
preferring to continue with a 29-man squad and keep his options open.
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