Leinster will be sweating on the fitness of Andrew Porter ahead of Saturday's Investec Champions Cup quarter-final against Sale Sharks after the loosehead prop picked up a shoulder injury in yesterday's win against Edinburgh.
Porter was replaced by Alex Usanov at half-time in the 49-31 win at Aviva Stadium, as the province survived a brief scare to book their place in the last eight of the competition.
"He came off at half-time, so just a shoulder or pec [injury]," Leo Cullen said after the win.
"I don't think it's too bad, but we'll get him assessed. My sense is it's not too bad. But we'll see."
Porter was playing his second game back from a calf injury, which ruled him out for the entire Six Nations campaign, while they are also dealing with the long-term injuries for both Paddy McCarthy and Jack Boyle.
Should the Ireland international miss next week against the Premiership side, it would leave the province with just two senior loosehead props, with Usanov making his Champions Cup debut in yesterday’s win, while Jerry Cahir has played 10 games this season since being recruited from All-Ireland League side Lansdowne.
In better news, Leinster could welcome back James Ryan and Garry Ringrose for the quarter-final.
Ryan hasn’t played since the penultimate round of the Six Nations due to a calf issue, while Ringrose picked up a minor knock in last week’s win against Scarlets.
And Cullen (above) is confident he doesn’t have any other injuries to contend with, especially heading into a six-day turnaround.
"Harry [Byrne] was cramping, that's why he came off, nothing too serious.
"A knockout game, it's about getting through and it's tough on a six-day turnaround. Knockout games, listen we're playing at home - that's the positive. We don't have any travel.
"But travel is sometimes a positive for an away team because it builds some of that siege mentality. I’m sure Alex Sanderson [Sale head coach] will be trying to feed that into his team.
"That would be my experience of coming up against Sale and him as a coach over the years, and with Saracens before that.
"They have a lot of pedigree in their group and they’ll be a handful. Winning away from home against Quins, just the manner of the way they did it, a physically dominant first half so making sure our guys are ready for that type of challenge," he added.
