Team news: Munster remain confident that Paul O'Connell will feature in a Munster shirt before the end of the season but the Ireland secondrow will not be involved in this weekend's Celtic League meeting with the Newport-Gwent Dragons.
O'Connell is back in training as his convalescence from the fractured thumb picked up on international duty continues but will sit out the match at Musgrave Park alongside the likes of Shaun Payne Trevor Halstead.
Christian Cullen, who missed the Celtic League win over Llanelli last time out, is back in the squad but will face competition from Mossy Lawlor to start at full-back while Peter Stringer and David Wallace, who have not seen action since Munster's Heineken Cup exit, are again rested.
Meanwhile, Trevor Halstead is making slow progress in his recovery from a knee injury and it is doubtful he will be involved again this season.
Munster squad: C Cullen, M Lawlor, J Kelly, A Horgan, I Dowling, B Murphy, L Mafi, B Carney, R O'Gara, J Manning, B O'Meara, T O'Leary, M Horan, F Sheahan, J Flannery, D Fogarty, F Pucciariello, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, C Wyatt, M O'Driscoll, A Quinlan, D Leamy, J O'Sullivan, D Wallace, A Foley capt.
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