With just 17 days until the start of their Rabo Direct Pro 12 season, Munster have been hit with another blow on the injury front.
The Thomond side have today confirmed that hooker Mike Sherry will be out for a further 'five to six months' after undergoing shoulder surgery last Friday. It is the second time this year that the 26 year-old has had to go under the knife after January's operation was expected to have the Limerick man ready for the start of this upcoming season.
Unfortunately for Sherry, it will more than likely be 2015 before he dons the red jersey again as a routine check-up uncovered further damage on his shoulder and the procedure had to be carried out.
Sherry isn't the only contributor to Anthony Foley's injury woes, however, as Keith Earls is out for four to five weeks after sustaining a knee injury in Ireland training at Carton House last week.
The Limerick World Club 7s weren't kind to the new boss either as he will most likely be without the services of Luke O'Dea and Gerhard van den Heever for the first couple of weeks of the season after the pair were injured in the competition.
Meanwhile, Damien Varley is out for another three to four weeks but the news on Duncan Casey is much more positive and, not only should he be available for the season kick-off on September 5, but could make a pre-season appearance against London Irish on Friday week.
Despite the build-up of injury problems for Munster, they do have a forgiving run of early fixtures in the Pro 12 with Edinburgh, Benetton Treviso and Zebre first up for the southern province.
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