Jonathan Sexton is expected to play some part in this weekend's Guinness PRO12 tie with Zebre according to Leinster.

The Ireland out-half hasn't played since sustaining an injury to his hamstring in the Autumn International fixture against New Zealand in November.

However, the former Racing 92 player returned to full training with Leinster last week, and he is expected to get some game time this weekend before the visit of Montpellier to the RDS in the Champions Cup on Friday week.

His January return also means he has about three weeks of potential game time before Ireland begin their 2017 Six Nations campaign in the spring.

Joe Schmidt's side open up with a trip to Murrayfield to take on Scotland on February 4th.

Newly capped Ireland international Joey Carbery briefly deputised for Sexton at Leinster but also suffered an ankle injury in early December that ruled him out for eight weeks, confirming the timescale during an interview with Newstalk.

Fellow youngster Ross Byrne also filled in at 10 for the province.