Peter O'Mahony is winning his race to be fit for Munster's crucial Investec Champions Cup Pool 3 meeting with Toulon on Saturday, while Joey Carbery and Niall Scannell are also in contention for a return to ease the province's injury worries.
O'Mahony hasn't played since suffering a shoulder injury in his side's win against the Stormers in November, with Munster winning just one of the six games the flanker has missed.
His planned December return was put on hold when the knock was slow to heal, but attack coach Mike Prendergast said they were "hopeful" the 34-year-old could be available for the meeting with last season's Challenge Cup winners.
"We had a good training session yesterday, a good one today. We'll know more on Thursday but in terms of process and steps, he looks like he's moving forward towards the weekend and hopefully, all going well, we'll have him."
With close to 20 players on the injury list in recent weeks, the province return to action after a week off which has allowed them to get several players back to full training. Alex Nankivell and Patrick Campbell both return from knocks to boost the backline numbers, while Niall Scannell and Joey Carbery are also back in full training again after respective groin and wrist issues.
Those returns couldn't have come at a better time, with Munster knowing a defeat away to Toulon on Saturday could see them requiring a miracle to make the last 16 of the competition.
And Prendergast (below) says it was pleasing to see some extra numbers out on the training pitch this week as they look to rescue their Champions Cup campaign.
"Especially the individuals that were training, the likes of Joey, Pete, Niall Scannell, a massive amount of experience.
"Going back into a new competition, Champions Cup away to Toulon, to get a few players back like that, with the experience and the individuals they are, it's definitely something that in terms of timing is good. It'll add to us."
While Carbery could return for Munster this weekend, the out-half's days in Limerick are now numbered after it was confirmed he would be leaving the province at the end of the season.
And while Prendergast says they've known of his departure since December, they're yet to decide on how best to replace the 28-year-old, as well as whether or not they'll be looking for an out-half from inside or outside the Irish system.
"Overall, we've known for about two weeks or so that he'll finish up here for next season and move to France.
"In terms of someone who will replace him, because of the amount of games in this block we've played, all we've been focused on is our week to week games. There will be a bit of a break in a couple of weeks and we'll sit down and assess.
"You look at someone like Tony Butler who has come in and got some opportunities and stood up. Against Connacht he stood up well in tough conditions for a number 10. It's something we'll dig deeper into in the next number of weeks.
"There will have to be a few conversations to be had, and we'll see where it goes from there," the Munster assistant added.
Watch Leinster v Stade Francais in the Champions Cup on Saturday from 4.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on www.rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio
