Craig Casey says he's ready to step up and be part of the Lions panel this summer, should he be called up as cover.
But the Munster scrum-half, who has suffered his fair share of injury heartache, says he wouldn't want to see any other player miss out.
Casey wasn't included in the squad announced by Andy Farrell last week and, with a call up being a childhood dream of his, he says he found the news difficult to take.
"I earmarked it at the start of the season and then played a few internationals," he said at an event for sports recovery company C11.
"They went well so I thought I put myself in a good position. Then the injury happened.
"Over the injury [recovery] it was always the main driving force for me. I always had a Lions crest on my journal, that I knew every day that I needed to live up to my standards and go beyond them if I wanted to get on that tour.
"I tried to hit the ground running over the last few weeks and put myself into contention for it, so I was certainly sitting there on Thursday, listening to it, soaking it all in.
"I'd be in awe of the Lions tours of old, so it's something that I've always wanted to do. You're a Lions fan as much as you want to play, so I was sitting there hoping my name was going to be called out.
"I was absolutely gutted, I won't lie about it. I gave myself the rest of the day to be disappointed. I take that disappointment on and let it drive you after that."
Casey suffered his most recent injury setback in December in a Champions Cup defeat to Castres.
The knock to his knee required surgery and kept him off the field until late March, as he returned for the inter-pro derby against Connacht in Castlebar.
As such, the 26-year-old is acutely aware of what a replacement call-up would mean for someone else.
"It looks like an unbelievable squad to go down and contest in Australia," he continued. "If something was to happen, I'd love to be able to be ready and put myself in the best possible position to be picked.
"I'm after coming off the back of an injury, so I wouldn't wish injury on any of those lads but if something does happen, I'll be ready.
"I haven't spoken to Andy since Thursday, or my injury, but I certainly wouldn't have been shy about saying I wanted to be a Lion the whole way growing up so I won't be saying it now either.
"I still want to be one."
For now, thoughts of any sort of involvement with the Lions are on the back burner.
Munster are set to host Benetton on Friday in a crunch BKT URC game, where a victory would put them into the top eight in the final standings, and the quarter-final spot that goes with it.
They're favourites for the game but they know defeat would see the southern province missing out on Europe's elite club competition for the first time in the 30 years of its various guises.
They haven't lost to the Italians in over a decade, although their most recent meeting ended in a 13-13 draw at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo back in October of 2023.
And Benetton were comfortable winners over third-placed Glasgow last weekend, so they'll make the trip to a sell-out crowd Virgin Media Park in high spirts.
"We're under no illusions as to how hard this week is going to be," he says of the challenge of Benetton.
"They had an unbelievable result last week against Glasgow, so they'll be coming in full of life and energy.
"Their head coach is leaving at the end of the season, so they've high motivation to send him off well. It's going to be a tough challenge. We know exactly what we're playing for so that's always a good thing.
"A sell-out in Cork and the weather is good, the buzz will surely be good down there, and we're buzzing for it."
Watch Leinster v Glasgow in the URC on Saturday from 7pm on the RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
