Felipe Contepomi insists Johnny Sexton will be ready to rock in the Six Nations despite his lack of game time.
Sexton, 36, came off the bench last Sunday, playing half an hour of Leinster's Champions Cup hammering of Montpellier, and is expected to start in the final pool game at Bath on Saturday.
The veteran out-half's last involvement before last weekend was in Ireland's win over the All Blacks on November 13 when he came off with ankle and knee injuries.
Despite the lack of involvement, Contepomi insists Sexton will be right for Ireland's Six Nations opener at home to Wales on February 5.
"Johnny is in good form, really good form," said Contepomi.
"My view with Johnny is that to be honest he doesn’t need that many more games under his belt.
"He needs to keep on training - and if he can keep himself fit and train properly at the level we train here and then at the level they train with Ireland he’ll definitely be match-ready.
"Hopefully he can play this weekend and then he can have some more games but he’s not a youngster that needs some games under his belt.
“He has so much experience that all he has to do is keep himself real fit and ready when he needs to step out onto the pitch."
Asked if Sexton was putting the pressure on for that first start in two months, Contepomi replied: “Johnny puts pressure on everyone in terms of when he comes back and trains.
"When he trains the way he's been training in the last few weeks, he definitely puts pressure on everyone.
"But it’s not about Johnny, one player, it’s about Leinster, and we always try to field the best team we think is ready to perform the best way for Leinster."
Sexton's return to action is timely with Ireland boss Andy Farrell today scheduled to name his training squad for the championship.
Farrell learned this week that Jacob Stockdale's season is probably over after he underwent ankle surgery.
And it is a worry for the Ireland supremo that Ulster are unsure about the fitness of their skipper Iain Henderson, who has been out with an ankle injury since last month.
However there was more positive news from Leinster's camp in that Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan and Jordan Larmour will all be fit for Ireland duty - and may even be involved this weekend.
Ryan was due to skipper Leinster against Montpellier but suffered a hamstring strain in the captain's run, Furlong's involvement in the game lasted less than 10 minutes with a calf issue.
Larmour, who looks to have got his confidence back, suffered a dead leg. But all three should be fine.
"We haven't ruled them out for this weekend so yeah, I'd like to think they will be up for the Six Nations for certain," Contepomi said.
"We still have to take them into account (for Bath). Hopefully, one or two or three of them can make it at the weekend."
Despite being forced to forfeit their second round pool game in France, Leinster are in the top four of their group in Europe and another resounding victory could yet see them in position to play at home in the quarter-finals, if they make it that far.
Contepomi acknowledged: "We always want to finish as high as possible.
"You don't know who you will play next but the higher you end up, the better chances you have if you get through, for a home quarter-final and then a home semi-final and so on.
"So yeah, it could play a huge advantage on the later stages and look, the only things we can control are our preparation and our performance - that's what we want to control the best we can.
"Now we find ourselves in that top four spot in the table and hopefully we can keep at the highest placing we can at the end of this round."
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