Dan Sheehan insists he is fit and fully firing for Ireland's trip to Rome after a rare injury issue kept him out of the victory over France.
Sheehan has been Andy Farrell's first choice hooker since last summer but missed the last game due to a hamstring issue.
However the 24-year-old has made a quick recovery and Farrell will have to decide whether to throw him straight back in from the start or go with Rónan Kelleher, who made his return from injury off the bench in the France game.
With Rob Herring, who started that victory, going through return to play protocols after suffering a head injury, it is most likely between the Leinster no 2s for the starting spot.
"Yeah, should be all good," said Sheehan, who trained fully last week and over the last two days. "The body is back to 100% so, good to go this weekend I think. Exciting challenge ahead.
"Just towards the end of the (France) week things didn’t go right. It's probably the first time I had to face an injury since I made my Leinster debut - I think it was the first game I’ve missed or not been available.
"So that was a bit of a challenge to get over, especially to miss a home game in the Aviva against France, the game we lost last year.
"On a personal level it is tough missing those games but it showed we have a lot of squad depth and we have a lot of competition for places.
"One person misses out and two lads are well capable of filling it.
"It's important over the next year or so - the squad depth is at the front of our minds. So it’s maybe a positive to take from it.
"I think a few years ago there wasn't as much depth at hooker and now there's a good few lads - young lads - coming through, of world class standard.
"It's probably for the best - people might get comfortable if they don't have someone pushing behind, and there's certainly people pushing in behind. It drives standards and makes sure we keep it competitive.
"To miss a game of that standard is huge, but to get back this quickly, I'm pretty happy with how I've dealt with it personally.
"To flow back into the squad, I'm happy and we have another chance this week.
"Injuries will come around to everyone and it's how we deal with them.
"There are instances where you can be in the right place at the right time, but I think you create your own luck. I don't think luck is a big part of international rugby."
Ireland have only lost once to Italy in the Six Nations, the calamitous 2013 defeat in Rome, and are expected to maintain their Grand Slam bid with another Stadio Olimpico triumph.
But Sheehan is wary of the threat the Azzurri will bring as they look to get off the mark in this year's championship.
“I think if you watch their two last games, they’ve played some seriously good attacking rugby," he said, referring to Italy's near miss against France and the less impressive showing away to England.
"Some dangerous individuals, but they’re also playing with some nice shape. I think our focus is on making sure we stick to our systems.
"I think sometimes maybe you can be tempted into trying to solve problems yourself, but they’re definitely a threat in the wider channels as well.
"We’ll be focused on making sure we stick to our processes and don’t take the foot off the gas from the first two performances.”
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