Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has injury problems to consider before his team face the Isuzu Southern Kings in Dublin on Friday.
Wing Dave Kearney and loose forwards Rhys Ruddock and Dan Leavy remain on Leinster’s injury list ahead of a top versus bottom Guinness PRO14 Conference B clash.
All three players also remain out of reach of the Irish squad as coach Joe Schmidt prepares this week for Ireland’s third match of the Six Nations Championship against Italy in Rome.
Ruddock was in the original squad picked by Schmidt before this year’s Six Nations began.
Leavy is continuing to recover from a calf strain he sustained in December, while Ruddock picked up a hamstring strain last week in training and enters into a period of rehabilitation.
Kearney, who has bounced back with some form in recent weeks after a frustrating two years of injury, showed concussion symptoms after Leinster’s win over Zebre last weekend.
The wing and fullback has entered the “Graduated Return to Play Protocols”.
Leinster say they have no timeline for the return of the players.
Joe Tomane is also recovering from a hamstring problem, while scrumhalf Luke McGrath (knee), Nick McCarthy (foot) and Will Connors (ACL) all have longer-term injuries.
The Kings are licking their wounds after a heavy 43-0 defeat against Munster in Cork last week.
The Kings were let down by poor discipline against Munster, and will be anxious to rectify that flaw in their game.
The Kings have yet to win a game on the road in the Guinness PRO14.
They had three players sinbinned, and that left them hamstrung against a Munster side who ran in seven tries and delivered a strong second-half showing.
Fiery Kings No 8 Ruaan Lerm was carded in the 35th minute, and later in the game replacements Tertius Kruger and Andisa Ntsila also found themselves in the naughty chair.
In their last game, Leinster came out on top during a 10-try thriller against Zebre at the Stadio Luigi Zaffanella, extending their lead at the top of Conference B to 22 points ahead of Edinburgh.
Michael Bradley’s Zebre side were only 21-19 behind at the halftime interval following an excellent rally, with the Italians finding themselves 21 points adrift earlier.
Max Deegan impressed with two tries either side of the break, while Ross Byrne, Dave Kearney, captain Scott Fardy and Conor O’Brien all touched down as Cullen’s side battled on despite the absence of a number of star names.
Late tries from Deegan and O’Brien in the second half saw Leinster away and secured their bonus-point 40-24 win on the road in Viadana.
It was Leinster’s 10th win of the campaign.