Flannery’s injury isn’t as bad as first feared and the 31-year-old could return in time for Ireland’s RBS 6 Nations opener against Italy at the beginning of February.

But Fogarty insists he has no qualms with being tasked with replacing Flannery ahead of the return Heineken Cup clash with Perpignan this weekend.

“Jerry had a successful probe and he is on his way back but, yeah, there's an opening there for me at the moment,” said Fogarty.

"It's a big ask, especially going over to France, going anywhere in France is a hard thing to do and we are aware of the challenge we're up against.

“We know we need to step up our game again and we're looking for a very good performance which, I have no doubt, we're capable of.”