Cheika is keen to put things right

Coach Michael Cheika yesterday downplayed the revenge motif that's been pinned to Leinster's Heineken European Cup match against Edinburgh at Donnybrook on Saturday.

In doing so he dismissed any sense of preoccupation with atoning for Leinster's desperately disappointing defeat in the Scottish capital earlier in the tournament; instead addressing more substantive issues like winning and retaining the initiative in the pool.

Since their defeat at Murrayfield, the hurt and anger the players felt has been given an occasional airing as they looked toward the rematch. That defeat hasn't been forgotten. Cheika said: "We understand the disappointment we had up there when we lost. We want to put that right and also get into a situation where we have the best chance of being the ones that will qualify.

"This is the third time we're playing Edinburgh and we are paying attention to the small details and making sure we get them right because they'll be the key. It is a very important game for us and one we're focused on winning.

"We defended quite well against them last time up there because they do have that side-to-side pattern and they have also got the straight running options. Reading those and defending those will be very important to us. But the most important thing is focusing on our set-piece and our possession. We made far too many mistakes against them the last time and they were able to take advantage of that through the boot or field position."

The Leinster coach received some good news on the injury front in that Luke Fitzgerald should be available for selection although Girvan Dempsey's return to the training paddock was a little more tentative. "He (Dempsey) went out and ran a bit yesterday but didn't partake in any of the team stuff. They're (medical personnel) working really hard to get him back.

"If he is not back this week he'll definitely be back for the Gloucester match. I would genuinely say that it is up in the air at the moment.You'd have to be ready to go, be on the pitch in training today. He hasn't been in (training) with the team at all so it's really 50/50"

Ronan McCormack is definitely out with a continuing neck problem.

Edinburgh are likely to be without centre Rob Dewey, a player who has caused Leinster considerable problems in the past, as the Scottish international is not quite fit following an injury sustained in the November Test series. Cheika, though, hasn't ruled him out of the equation.

"He (Dewey) changes some of the scope of their game a bit in that he's able to really drive the ball up the middle. It's down to his physical frame. He gives him that option. We are obviously learning how to deal with that a little bit better in the way we want to defend and we will change our defence accordingly in case he does play.

"We want to be ready for all the options. They have a couple of good players in reserve. That kid Andrew Easson is quite a good player, otherwise Matt Dey will play in there and he's a handy player."

Edinburgh will definitely be without Mike Blair, the third scrumhalf - Blair is first choice - to go down with an injury. It means Samoan-born former Auckland Blues player John Senio is the only fit scrumhalf on the books at present eligible for the European Cup.

Cheika rates him highly: "He (Senio) brings a totally different threat, probing around the edges. He plays a lot more with his forwards and tries to make holes a lot more around the fringe of ruck and maul. He'll test our runners there, a little bit like (Jason) Spice did in the Ospreys (game) last week."

Meanwhile, a horrendous run of injuries continued for Connacht coach Michael Bradley forcing him to promote a couple of young players to the senior squad for Friday night's European Challenge Cup match against Bath at the Sportsground.

Bradley had named David McGowan and former Mayo minor footballer Peter Durcan for the first time this season in place of David Gannon and Keith Matthews. Brendan O'Connor and Conor McPhillips are also drafted in for the injured duo of John Muldoon and Gavin Williams.

LEINSTER SQUAD: S Wright, R Corrigan, B Jackman, H Vermaas, W Green, T Hogan, M O'Kelly, C Jowitt, O Finegan, S Keogh, K Gleeson, J Heaslip, G Dempsey, R Kearney, S Horgan, K Lewis, B O'Driscoll (capt), G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald, D Hickie, A Dunne, C Warner, F Contepomi, G Easterby, C Whitaker.

CONNACHT SQUAD: P Durcan, A Farley, A Flavin, J Fogarty, J Hearty, C Keane, S Knoop, M Lacey, D McGowan, M McHugh, C McPhillips, B O'Connor, R Ofisa, C O'Loughlin, C Rigney, D Riordan, T Robinson, B Sturgess, M Swift, P Warwick, B Wilkinson, D Yapp.