Danny Wilson insists Cardiff Blues are more than capable of dealing with the loss of club captain Gethin Jenkins for tomorrow's European Challenge Cup final.
The Wales record cap holder picked up a calf injury in the semi-final against Pau and lost his fitness race to lead the team against Gloucester.
Jenkins would have been the first player to captain a side in two Challenge Cup finals and Wilson was bitterly disappointed for the front-row forward.
But he is also confident that the Blues’ leadership group, headed up by Friday’s captain, Ellis Jenkins can handle his absence.
Wilson said: “It came down to the wire and we gave him every opportunity and Gethin being Gethin gave himself every opportunity. He is a model professional in terms of his prehab, rehab and so on.
“He is really disappointed and it’s disappointing he can’t make the fixture. His leadership is outstanding but Ellis, who has just been selected to duel captain Wales, I’m more than happy with his captaincy.
“It’s a blow but it’s one we feel we can deal with and it is more of a big shame for him personally because he has done so much work to get out there.”
Jenkins has been replaced by Rhys Gill, who has recovered from facial surgery, and he will prop down with Kristian Dacey and veteran tight-head Taufa’ao Filise.
Wilson paid tribute to tight-head prop Filise, who will make his 255th and final appearance for the region ahead of his summer retirement.
Filise is the sole survivor from the 2010 Amlin Challenge Cup winning starting line-up and is looking to go out on a similar high.
Wilson added: “The guys never ceases to amaze me… physically and mentally. We know his legs aren’t going to last the full period of time that maybe you would want them to but he is 250-odd games into his career and still going strong.
“He’s rock solid at the scrum, has big collisions in him until that time when he tires. He has been a massive servant to the club for a massive period of time and will be very difficult to replace.
“He’s been great for the likes of Dillon, young props that are in our system because he is one a difficult man to scrummage against and learn from but also his example.
“He works extremely hard on the training ground, he wants to train every single session although he’s not the age profile to do that and he’s just a guy that gets on with it.
“It’s great that he has the send-off he deserves, either way, and I hope he enjoys his retirement and stops playing rugby but we’ll have to see!”