Cardiff Blues suffered a setback when it was revealed that three of their stalwarts will miss Sunday's Heineken Cup Pool clash with Montpellier.
The Welsh region go into the crucial match in Cardiff without Welsh internationals Leigh Halfpenny, Bradley Davies and Jamie Roberts.
Halfpenny is seeing a specialist this week after he injured his neck in Wales' loss to Australia at the Millennium Stadium last weekend.
Davies meanwhile is still recovering from the severe concussion he sustained at the hands of New Zealand hooker Andrew Hore.
And centre Roberts has been ruled out of the Arms Park clash after he hyper-extended his left arm against the Wallabies last week.
"We are not expecting any of them to be involved this week," Blues backs coach Gareth Baber told the ERC website.
"Leigh is seeing a specialist this week. How long he will be out for I am not exactly sure.
"Bradley is seeing a neuro-specialist and they are monitoring how he reacts to tests.
"There are no long-term worries that we know of. He has taken a smack to the face. In the first two weeks, you've just t got to let things settle down a little bit.
"Jamie hyper-extended his arm. He's had an MRI scan and we are monitoring him and seeing how he is.
"The guys have had a tough series. That's the nature of the game we play.
"When they play for Wales, you want them to play with their heart on their sleeve and really go for it.
"It is frustrating, but that's what we deal with.
"This is what we have got. There is quality in the squad and they are going to have to step up and play against Montpellier."
Cardiff are already without back-line trio Dan Fish, Tom James and Chris Czekaj and Baber admits it is a concern.
"We have issues and they don't go away," added Baber.
"This is the business and we have to try and squeeze as much as we can out of the players that take the field.
"We've just got to deal with it and crack on and plan for the weekend."
The Blues need to beat Montpellier at home and away to stay in contention for a place in the quarter-finals.







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