Captain Bob Casey, England lock Nick Kennedy and Samoa centre Seilala Mapusua will spend three hours in an oxygen tank today in a bid to ensure London Irish will be at full strength for their Guinness Premiership Final against Leicester.

All were hurt in the 17-0 semi-final win over Harlequins and with Irish having one of the smallest squads in the Premiership, it is hoped that the two 90-minute sessions at a London hospital speed up their recovery for Saturday's clash at Twickenham.

Kennedy, the best line-out forward in England, is causing the most concern after damaging ligaments in his left knee and was on crutches when he went for a scan yesterday. However, the scan offered hope that Kennedy, with the extra healing promoted by the oxygen tank, will be fit enough to start the biggest match in the club's history.

Casey was supposed to be taken off mid-way through the second half on Saturday as he had only managed an hour of rugby in the previous 10 weeks after detaching the biceps muscle from the bone in his arm. But With Kennedy forced off, Casey had to last the whole game and that put added strain on the biceps area - which meant he was also heading into the oxygen rich atmosphere of the tank alongside Mapusua, who damaged his ankle.

Casey said: "I had a scan along with Nick yesterday and he is not as bad as was feared immediately after the game. That is why we are going to get into the tank today with Seilala giving the extra oxygen every chance to speed up the healing proces. In fact, we are planning to do two sessions and at least I have two mates in there with me to talk to.

"Nick only lives around the corner and so we are looking after each other and that means making sure there is always enough ice to keep the sore bits nice and cold and we will have a better idea of what will be possible when we meet up as a squad tomorrow."

Casey is upbeat about Kennedy's chances of playing and Irish will need the England lock's line out expertise against a Leicester side who saw off Bath 24-10.

Leciester were too strong up front for Bath and Quins director of rugby Dean Richards believes that the Tigers' powerful front row will be too much for Irish this weekend.

Those comments have stung Irish, and Casey was quick to highlight the success loose head prop Clarke Dermody, an All Blacks international, had against the Quins front row.

"I am a little disappointed to hear what Dean has been saying," added Casey. "Clarke has been one of the best signings Irish have ever made and we prefer to do our talking on the pitch - we had the upper hand against Quins."

Mike Catt, the veteran outside half, is certain to keep playing next season even though he will be 38 and will wear the No10 jersey in the final after a try scoring contribution against Quins.

Catt said: "My immediate future as a player is the final on Saturday and then I will make a decision and we will see how it goes. If we recruit someone over the summer then I would take a back seat but if we don't then I would be ready to play .

"I will carry on if I want to do this and I have been really lucky to work with Toby Booth and this group of players because they pick things up very quickly. To end the season in the final against Leicester is fantastic."