Ulster have revealed that Ruan Pienaar's knee injury is not as serious as first feared.
The influential scrum-half was left wearing a leg brace after Sunday's defeat in Bordeaux and he remains a doubt for next Saturday's European Champions Cup game against Exeter.
Ulster say that the South African's injury is not as serious as first feared and that the player's fitness will be assessed again closer to Saturday's game.
But the prognosis is far more positive than had been thought immediately after the game as confirmed by Ulster director of rugby Les Kiss.
"We had really good news about Ruan earlier today," he said.
"The scan just showed a couple of things that you would expect with a jar on the knee. We'll just need to see how the next 24 or 48 hours go and then we'll take a decision but it looks very positive."
Pienaar, who has been at Ulster since 2010, will leave the province at the end of the current season when his three-year contract expires.
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