Leinster's Will Connors is set to miss the rest of the season.
The 25-year-old flanker picked up a knee injury during their 29-27 defeat to Cardiff in the United Rugby Championship last month.
Connors only returned to action in November of last year after being sidelined for eight months through injury.
Ahead of their URC clash with Lions at the RDS on Friday, the province's coaching team has confirmed that following further assessment he will not play again this season.
📢 | Injury update
Will Connors will unfortunately miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
Read the full update here 👉 https://t.co/8CnEvLSJ9w#FromTheGroundUp pic.twitter.com/lKyWO4Q8EK
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) February 21, 2022
Elsewhere, Rory O’Loughlin, who's out with an illness, and Vakh Abdaladze, who's dealing with a neck issue, will both be further assessed this week to see if they will be available for the game.
O’Loughlin was a late withdrawal from the squad to face Ospreys on Saturday while Abdaladze sustained a neck injury in the game against Edinburgh.
Dan Leavy is due to step up his rehabilitation programme this week and return to training.
He will also be further assessed this week before a final decision is made.
All of Rhys Ruddock (quad), James Lowe (hamstring) and Jimmy O’Brien (calf) came through the Ospreys game with no issues with the latter two now joining the Ireland squad ahead of Sunday's clash with Italy.
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