Justin Tipuric insists he is back to full fitness after the concussion problems that left him struggling to see properly.
The Wales flanker will play his first match for five months on Friday night when he lines up for the Ospreys in Belgium.
Tipuric suffered a blow to his head when he was clattered to the ground from a line-out during the Six Nations match against Italy in March.
His concussion symptoms included a temporary loss of sight and there were fears the 27-year-old could join the growing list of players forced into early retirement.
But as he prepared to face the Belgian national side in Waterloo, Tipuric said: “I had a few problems, which were well documented, which I wouldn’t have really wanted.
“But everything’s good now. The Ospreys, Wales and the specialists have all looked after me and been great to me.
“Fingers crossed everything will be fine when I get back playing. I’m looking forward to it.”
Tipuric missed the last weeks of the season for his region and the summer tour by Wales to New Zealand.
But he now wants to prove his fitness ahead of the start of the Guinness Pro12 campaign in two weeks’ time.
“I’m looking forward to playing alongside a few youngsters. They’ve been pushing hard in training, so it will be good to play with them in a game situation.
“It will be good for us old boys to get the lungs going in a game situation because there’s nothing like match fitness. It will be tough, especially in the heat over here.
“The first couple of games are always tough while you get your match fitness up.
“I don’t think Zebre, in our opening game, will make it easy for us. It’s going to be a tough game but hopefully we can start the season better than we did last year.
“Hopefully, we can start with a bang and try to get a few wins under our belt and go from there.”
