Boshoff And Kelleher Sidelined, Heenan And Ili Awaiting Scan Results

Ronan Loughney is continuing his rehabilitation from his knee injury sustained in training, while fellow forward Jake Heenan sustained injuries to his knee and ankle during the 32-17 defeat at Wasps and is awaiting the results of a scan to determine the extent of the injury.

John Cooney sustained a quad injury in training last week but is progressing well in his rehab. Unfortunately, South African out-half Marnitz Boshoff had to undergo surgery for the shoulder injury he sustained against Benetton Treviso. He will be out of action for 12 weeks.

Stacey Ili, who partnered Bundee Aki in the centre in Coventry, sustained an ankle injury against Wasps and is awaiting the results of a scan to determine the extent of the injury.

Peter Robb sustained an injury to his thigh in training last week and is progressing well in his rehab, but versatile Cian Kelleher will be out for up to four weeks after injurying his hamstring against Wasps.

Connacht head coach Pat Lam said: “We were not too far off Wasps and although (last Sunday) was a key game, we’re still sitting second in the pool. I said before the game if we won one of the two games against Wasps we would have a great chance of getting through, and if we won both we would be pretty much there.

“So now we’re down to getting back in front of our own crowd, and if we can get a result we’ll be right back in contention. If we play how we can, we have a game-plan that can win this, so it will come down to execution.”

He added: “We are down on numbers. That’s what I wanted, I wanted competition and have the opportunity because we go six-day turnaround, six-day turnaround to Ulster. And then a seven-day turnaround to Munster and then the Ospreys.

“Big games and we need as many on deck as we can. It is what it is and that’s the adversity that you face and the challenge and we just have to face it and we will.”