Henson return would be 'encouraging' for Ospreys

Henson has been out of action for 13 months, having taken unpaid leave from the Ospreys to recover from a serious of injury setbacks that have blighted his career since 2005.

But earlier this week the 28-year-old suggested he was ready to return to the Liberty Stadium next season, with Ospreys managing director Mike Cuddy saying Henson should be back playing by the end of 2010.

And that news has been met with an unsurprisingly positive response from Holley, whose Ospreys side are currently chasing Magners League glory without one of the league's most high-profile players.

"It's very encouraging. Gav's proved he's a quality player," said Holley.

"He has all the technical attributes to play the game at the highest level.

"Physically he's always kept himself in good nick so it's good news.

"The game is moving pretty fast, weekly as much as anything, so it would be difficult but... he's got a lot of innate abilities Gavin and he's a physical specimen.

"If he's got the motivation and the desire to do it then I'm sure he can."

The Ospreys travel to Thomond Park to take on reigning Magners League Champions Munster on Saturday and Holley insists that the news surrounding Henson won't distract them from the job in hand.

The top Welsh region currently sit in third place in the league standings but defeat could see them slip out of the Play-Off places with just one game to go.

"We can only wait and see," added Holley in reference to when Henson would return.

"We can only focus at the moment on the squad we have and it's a good one and they're doing well.

"So that's something [Henson returning to the region] we're going to have to deal with if and when it comes."