Lions trio Gavin Henson, Gethin Jenkins and Tom Shanklin have already been ruled out of the Millennium Stadium showdown with New Zealand on November 5, while Newport-Gwent Dragons back Hal Luscombe is another confirmed non-starter.

Two more Lions - fly-half Stephen Jones and back-row star Ryan Jones - are battling to regain full fitness in time for the All Blacks clash, but Ruddock remains upbeat for a programme of November Tests which also features Fiji, South Africa and Australia.

Whenever we lost players last season, other players came in and performed superbly, he said.

We lost Gareth Thomas, our captain, at half-time against France, and Kevin Morgan came on, played superbly and then scored a magnificent try against Ireland in the last game of the Six Nations.

We lost Hal Luscombe on the wing, then Rhys Williams, and Mark Taylor stepped in and played against Ireland, while Colin Charvis was man of the series during last years autumn Tests, then got injured and Martyn Williams stepped in and was player of the Six Nations.

I am not overly concerned. Weve got a great history of replacing players with other fine players. It is about Team Wales and being confident in our squad.

Whatever happens with injuries, we think weve got a very exciting pool of talent available to us.''

Wales physiotherapist Mark Davies has revealed that Henson retains an outside chance of featuring in the autumn Tests after undergoing groin surgery, but confirmed Luscombe (thumb), centre Shanklin (knee) and prop Jenkins (shoulder) had no hope of recovering in time.

Gavin is moving forward, and his fitness is coming along well, said Davies.

It is difficult to predict, but you would hope, should symptoms resolve, that he will be back in full training in the next two or three weeks. He has an outside chance, possibly, of featuring somewhere in the autumn internationals, but not at the start.

Stephen Jones, meanwhile, is quite positive about playing for his club Clermont Auvergne against the Ospreys later this month, and Clermont are happy not to rush him back this weekend.

With Ryan Jones, his shoulder is still quite bruised and sore. Hes slowly progressing, and the earliest opportunity for him would be the Ospreys second Heineken Cup game. We are optimistic things will settle down by the opening Test.

The Welsh Rugby Union, meanwhile, have announced a six-figure deal with investment company Invesco Perpetual to sponsor the autumn series.