Leo Cullen is confident Tadhg Furlong will feature for Ireland soon and possibly against Wales in round three of the Guinness Six Nations.
The Leinster tighthead has played just once, against La Rochelle in January, since mid-October after suffering a calf injury and missed the victories over England and Scotland.
In Furlong's absence, Connacht’s Finlay Bealham has proven an able deputy while fellow Leinster loosehead Thomas Clarkson appeared twice off the bench.
Simon Easterby’s men, top of the table, have a two-week lay-off until they head to Cardiff on 22 February and 32-year-old Furlong, who was sent home from the team's warm-weather training camp to see a specialist last month, could be in the reckoning.
"He’s okay now, Tadhg, well, he’s getting closer," Leinster head coach Cullen told RTÉ Sport.
"He’s in the building today, he’s training, rehabbing away so yeah, he’s not a million miles away.
"I’m not sure what [Ireland's] plan will be, whether they’ll get him for Wales or leave him for another couple of weeks after that but hopefully he’ll feature before the end of the Six Nations."
Cullen said Ireland squad players who haven’t seen game time in the championship Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy, Ciarán Frawley, Jimmy O'Brien, and Jamie Osborne may feature in the URC against the Ospreys on Friday night (7.35pm).
"They are all in the building anyway so here’s hoping they get through the week," he said.
"There’s a few different factors here because Ireland want to have a plan as well so they can get some meaningful training done later in the week.
"Hopefully most of those guys will feature with us, that’s the plan at this stage. We just need to be ready to adjust if something changes, which is always the way this time of year, so we all understand our roles.
"We’ve a good group; the challenge always is trying to get the group ready last week and then a couple of guys get catapulted in on top so we need to try and do our best to accommodate and do what’s right for the group."
Prop Rabah Slimani, who was a travelling reserve with France, is also back in Leinster camp, while the involvement of RG Snyman and Jordie Barrett will be decided later this week.
Will Connors, James Culhane and Liam Turner are all available for selection for the leaders after injury, while Jordan Lamour is on course to return for Leinster’s trip to South Africa in mid-March.
Elsewhere, Munster, who host the Scarlets on Saturday evening (5.15pm, live on RTÉ) have announced that Seán O'Brien, Niall Scannell and Josh Wycherley have all signed contract extensions.
Centre / wing O’Brien and loosehead prop Wycherley have committed their future to the side until 2027 at least, while hooker Scannell, capped 20 times by Ireland, has signed a new one-year deal.
Watch Munster v Scarlets in the URC on Saturday from 4.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
