Munster will make a late call on the fitness of out-half Billy Burns ahead of this Saturday's meeting with Zebre in Parma (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player), but say they have full faith in Tony Butler if he is required to step up.
Burns looked in severe discomfort when he was replaced with a shoulder injury during the second half of Saturday's win against Connacht at Thomond Park, but the Ireland international appeared to be moving freely after the game and didn't have his arm in a sling after the game.
The former Ulster ten has had a scan on the injury which appears to have produced a better-than-expected result, with forwards coach Andi Kyriacou saying they will wait until Thursday to make a call on his availability for the trip to Italy.
If Burns is unavailable, Tony Butler looks likely to step into a starting role in Italy. The 22-year-old replaced Burns after 53 minutes at Thomond Park last weekend, and held his nerve to kick two conversions, the second of which proved to be the winning score.
And although the Ennis man has just stepped up to a senior deal from the academy, Kyriacou has backed him to step up to a starting role if required.
"Loads of confidence [in him]" the Munster assistant said.
"We've got a fully integrated training model here, and that exposes out younger players to the way we're trying to play the game, that high speed and physicality we get in training, so he's well able tin terms of managing the gameplan, and directing things from an attack point of view.
"We're very confident, if there is an issue with Billy [Burns]. We don't know yet, we haven't selected a team yet, we don't do that until Thursday, but if it is the case that it's Tony, then we're fully behind it."
The province have had some good news on the injury front this week with Dave Kilcoyne returning to full training.
The Ireland international played just three games for the province last season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, while an ankle issue delayed his return in pre-season.
"He's worked tirelessly with his rehab, and it's great to see him back out on the field. You miss his character when he's not there.
"He's a great man to have around, and he's got a bit to do just in terms of sharpening the tools and getting back into those set-piece elements, and the timing of where he needs to be in phase-play, but he's already making big strides since being back with the team," Kyriacou added.
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