Jared Payne immediate future remains uncertain as he continues to recover from an injury-hit Lions tour this past summer.
The New Zealand-born star has not played since the Lions clash with the Chiefs in June and Ulster’s Director of Rugby Les Kiss has revealed he is still suffering from headaches.
Speaking to BBC Sport NI, Kiss outlined that Payne’s ailment has been ruled as ‘not concussion-related’ and that he and the medical team are taking a patient approach to his return.
“It’s with the head and the neck and Jared is getting headaches after hard work. We have to work slowly but surely to get him to a point where he is right again.
“It’s certainly frustrating and not ideal for Jared, we’ll do the best we can for him to make sure he is right.
“We won’t do anything until he has had a week of freedom [from headaches] from his responses after training.”