Izuchukwu out for 'number of weeks' with ankle injury

Ulster back-row Cormac Izuchukwu will be out for a "number of weeks" after sustaining an ankle injury in his side's defeat to Benetton earlier this month.

The forward, who won his first Ireland cap in November's win over Fiji, came off early in Ulster's 34-19 loss in Treviso and was withdrawn from international selection for Saturday's win over Wales.

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy will also be without Iain Henderson [hamstring] for Saturday's home United Rugby Championship game against the Scarlets at Kingspan Stadium but could be boosted by the return from injuries of Jake Flannery [hamstring] and Michael Lowry [concussion].

Both players will have their fitness assessed throughout the week after coming off injured alongside Izuchukwu in Italy, while John Cooney is also being monitored this week after suffering a calf injury in training.

"John had a light run today [Monday] and we'll see where he is tomorrow. We're hopeful he might be available for the game at the weekend," Murphy told BBC Sport NI.

"Mikey [Lowry] is returning from concussion and was back in return-to-play contact on Monday. He looks like he will be ok.

"Werner Kok saw a specialist on Monday and he is returning to full contact this week so he may play at the weekend but we'll need to get him through Tuesday and Thursday and see where he's at."

Meanwhile Ulster have increased their options in the front row by agreeing a short-term deal for loose-head prop Sam Crean.

The Irish-qualified forward joins from Saracens.

Ulster sit 14th in the URC table with four wins from 11 outings ahead of the visit of the Scarlets to Belfast on Saturday.