Gloucester keep Munster guessing on Vickery return

GLOUCESTER tightened their circle of secrecy around the return to fitness of Phil Vickery in an attempt to throw Munster off his European Cup recovery trail.

The only certainty is that Vickery is suffering the effects of a rib injury, but he took part in both of Gloucester's contact sessions on Tuesday and yesterday for the first time since he suffered cartilage damage against Bourgoin.

But whether that is enough to convince Kingsholm boss Nigel Melville to plunge him straight back into the Heineken Cup firmament at Thomond Park on Saturday is not clear.

Vickery has not played since the middle of December when he damaged rib cartilage in the first of Gloucester's Pool Five assignments.

It was believed he was close to a potential return last week but Gloucester were again magnificently served by Andy Deacon on the tighthead side of the scrum when the British Lion failed to recover.

And the 38-year-old is expected to retain his place this weekend in a front row that will also include hooker Chris Fortey, who has served his seven-day suspension following his red card against Harlequins.

Melville was non-committal when asked whether Vickery would return, indicating a possible role as a replacement.

"He is looking in good shape and took part in a contact session yesterday that was very physical," Melville said.

"It is not that Phil is not fit, but he has been injured. It is not tempting to rush him back this weekend because we need him fit full-stop and we don't want him suffering a repercussion.

"He might be on the bench. We will see how it goes, it is too early to say and I am not ready to make any decisions about it."

Vickery was joined in yesterday's session by James Forrester, the number eight who has suffered left-ankle ligament problems and he could well force his way onto the bench for the first time since November.

"It is a huge boost to have these calibre of players back with us because it has been a case of fingers in the dyke over the past few weeks," Melville added.

"There has been a lot of pressure on a lot of players and it is nice to have that easing."