Munster's bid to retain their BKT United Rugby Championship title has been hit with a triple injury blow with Joey Carbery, Tom Ahern and Rory Scannell ruled out of action.
Out-half Carbery, who will move to Bordeaux at the end of the season, suffered a thumb injury after coming on as a replacement in the 29-24 win over Ulster at the weekend.
The 28-year-old will not feature against Ospreys on Friday night, while forward Ahern looks likely to miss the rest of the season with an "ankle/lower leg" injury, also picked up after coming on as a replacement on Saturday.
Rory Scannell is also set for a spell on the sidelines. The centre left the field on a medical cart during the first half of their round-18 win.
The province confirmed that Scannell (below) will undergo surgery next week.
"Tom Ahern suffered an ankle/lower leg injury against Ulster and will go for a scan today, he is unavailable for the coming weeks," said the club.
"Joey Carbery suffered a thumb injury versus Ulster and will be unavailable this week."
Graham Rowntree will hope to have Antoine Frisch back from a leg/groin issue to cover his options in the centre with Alex Nankivell not expected to recover from an ankle injury ahead of Friday’s 7.35pm kick-off.
There is, however, good news for Diarmuid Barron (foot) and Josh Wycherley (face) as they all return to training this week.
Dave Kilcoyne (shoulder), Roman Salanoa (knee), Jean Kleyn (knee/eye), Paddy Patterson (knee) and Patrick Campbell (shoulder) continue to rehab.
Watch highlights of all the weekend's action on Against the Head, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, 8pm
Watch Munster v Ospreys (7.35pm) in the URC on Friday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra. Follow a live blog of Leinster v Ulster (Saturday 5pm) on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to updates on RTÉ Radio 1
