There was speculation after the first international between South Africa and the Lions in Durban last month that Phil Vickery might have played his last game of international rugby. That was before both Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones were ruled out of the concluding game of the three-match series at Ellis Park on Saturday, leaving yawning holes in the Lions front row.

So, whatever indignities Vickery endured at the hands of Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira in Durban, the veteran tight-head prop has every chance of returning when the Lions confirm their team tomorrow, even though he has been struggling with a throat infection which terminated this morning's training session prematurely. Jones reduced Mtawarira to the ranks of ordinary mortals in Pretoria last Saturday before suffering the shoulder dislocation that has ended his tour and Vickery must be itching for the chance to show that the first test was, indeed, a bad day at the office.

"We've all had them," Graham Rowntree, the forwards coach and a former England and Lions prop himself, said today. "If he were to play it would be a huge phsychological challenge for Vicks but one he's capable of overcoming. As coaches we're always picking players up but, technically and emotionally, he's capable of getting back out there and giving a good performance.

"There's no-one else out there with the strength of character that Phil has, no-one better at handling what happened." Not only Rowntree is aware of Vickery's inner strength: he has been coached at London Wasps by Ian McGeechan and Shaun Edwards, who know the calibre of the man, know the resolve he has shown coming back from a sequence of injuries which would have forced retirement on a lesser individual, know what it takes to win 73 caps in England's front row and make two Lions tours.

Sport does not always treat teams or players fairly - these Lions know that - but if Vickery receives his chance to make amends, no-one will deserve it more. Before the Durban test he spoke movingly of his passion for the jersey, his pride in his international achievements, which made it more of a crushing experience when Mtawarira - to his infinite credit, it should be added - gave him such an awkward afternoon.

He is not the only choice; even though the two Wales props are unavailable and Euan Murray, the Scotland prop who handled Mtawarira so well at Murrayfield last November, was a casualty midway through the tour, the Lions have a choice of four. Andrew Sheridan will start at loose-head prop and the tight-head berth is between Vickery and John Hayes, Ireland's most-capped player who, along with Tim Payne, Vickery's club colleague, joined the tour 12 days ago.

Ronan O'Gara is another much-capped player who needs a pick-me-up. The Ireland fly half was at fault in defence when Jaque Fourie scored the third Springbok try in Pretoria and conceded the fatal penalty which cost the Lions the draw. "Ronan was very low but mentally he's very tough," Paul O'Connell, the Lions captain and O'Gara's Munster colleague, said.

"He's been at the top, he's won games for different teams. When you put yourself out there, for Lions selection, for Ireland selection, these things happen from time to time." When Fourie scored his try, he did so against a Lions midfield of O'Gara at fly half, with Stephen Jones and Tommy Bowe at centre after injuries to Brian O'Driscoll and Jamie Roberts (who has still not been ruled out for this Saturday by a wrist injury). If the defensive alignment was slightly out of kilter, against a centre as good as Fourie, it is no wonder.

Even so it would be no surprise to see Jones picked at fly half tomorrow, particularly after his faultless goal-kicking display which earned 20 points in Pretoria, with James Hook on the bench. With change imminent in South Africa's starting XV, also due to be named tomorrow, the Lions consider that the 2-0 adverse scoreline in the series does not reflect both the work they have done and the quality of the rugby they have played, and though the series has gone, a winning finale would be some compensation.