The Ireland rugby squad say they remain hopeful Johnny Sexton will train fully on Thursday and will be available for selection for Saturday's World Cup clash with Japan.
The out-half suffered a bang to his thigh in last weekend’s win over Scotland and has been unable to train fully so far this week.
"Johnny went through rehab today, but he had also done some work with the team. But he's being monitored," said skills coach Richie Murphy.
"We expect him to train fully on Thursday. That wouldn't be unusual for him not to train two days after a Test match."
Connacht's Jack Carty replaced the Leinster man just under an hour into the game in Yokohama and scored from his only shot at goal.
In positive injury news, both Peter O'Mahony and Bundee Aki have passed their third head-injury assessment and will be available to play Japan.
Keith Earls, Rob Kearney and Munster 10 Joey Carbery are all also fit and available for selection , leaving Robbie Henshaw as Ireland's only major injury concern - should Sexton shake off his thigh knock.
Munster No 10 Joey Carbery has only recently returned to full training after an ankle injury sustained in the World Cup warm-up win over Italy but is in contention to face Japan.
"Earlsy, Rob Kearney and Joey have all made really good progress, and it's a good situation," said Murphy.
"They were all at the point at the end of last week where they were effectively ready, but we didn't want to take any risks."
Henshaw continues to step up the recovery from his hamstring problem that kept him out of the World Cup opener.
Murphy revealed Leinster's powerhouse centre is back running, and will be reviewed again on Thursday.
While Henshaw is unlikely to be ready to face Japan this weekend, Ireland continue to make positive noises about his recovery.
"Robbie was in training today, he's in his return-to-play phase now," said Murphy.
"He did a lot of running today and came through that no problem.
"We'll see what he's like on Thursday and make a decision on him them."
Ireland can move a long way towards a quarter-final with victory over Japan on Saturday, but Murphy insisted Joe Schmidt's men were taking nothing for granted despite the hosts ranked being just ninth in the world.
Ireland are likely to mix up selection to face the Brave Blossoms, but Murphy insisted changes are not expected to be wholesale.
"The first thing is, we've a lot of respect for Japan. They are a very, very good side and they've proven that over the last couple of years," said Murphy.
"The team we pick will be the team we believe will be the right team to play a Test match six days after the last one.
"There could be some rotation in it but it will be fully focused on beating Japan."
Follow Ireland v Japan on Saturday (kick-off 8.15am) via the live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport andthe NewsNowApp, watch live on RTÉ2 from 7.30am or listen to live match commentary on RTÉ Radio 1.
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