The big number 6 underwent surgery in December to correct the injury which ruled him out of Ireland’s autumn international series.

After over three months on the sidelines Ferris will be in a race to prove his fitness before he can be considered for the Irish squad and can only realistically hope to feature in the final two games, against Scotland on February 24 and France on March 9.

Having lost a number of influential players to injury over winter Anscombe is understandably eager to get Ferris back as soon as possible.

"Stephen Ferris, mid-February, fingers crossed, all going well," the New Zealander told BBC Sport.

Another key squad member who has been on the injury list since December is Tommy Bowe who sustained significant lateral ligament damage to his right knee in the Heineken Cup defeat to Northampton Saints.

Surgery on the injury in late December ruled Bowe out of the Six Nations with the Ulster medical team predicting a four month recovery period.

The big concern for Ulster fans is whether the winger will be available for the Heineken Cup quarter final against Saracens in April but Anscombe is wary of rushing him back after such a serious injury.

"That would be pushing it," said the Ulster coach.

"We've got to be very careful with such a serious injury that he had. We don't want to be rushing it.

“We’ve got to look at the longer-term effects of where it's at."

The Ravenhill outfit will have to cope without big number 8 Nick Williams for another seven weeks but Anscombe is optimistic about the imminent return of Johann Muller, Dan Tuohy and Luke Marshall.

"Johann will be ready for the Ospreys in a couple of weeks when we come back from the break," added Anscombe.

"Tuohy hopefully (will be back) around then and Luke Marshall the same."