Johnny Sexton will not be fazed by England coach Eddie Jones questioning his health, insists Ireland team-mate Andrew Trimble.
Ireland travel to Twickenham on Saturday looking for their first win in this year's Six Nations, against table-topping England.
Ahead of the game, Jones has heightened tensions by claiming Sexton's parents should be worried about his long-term health after the neck injury he suffered in Ireland's 10-9 defeat to France
"Sexton is an interesting one, they've talked about him having whiplash injury which is not a great thing to talk about," said Jones.
"I'm sure his mother and father would be worried about that. Hopefully, the lad's alright on Saturday to play."
Sexton was stood down for 12 weeks in 2014 after four concussions inside 12 months but coach Joe Schmidt insisted his fly-half is "absolutely" fully fit and Ulster wing Trimble also leapt to the defence of his team-mate.
"I don't think Johnny will be frustrated by any of that in the slightest," Trimble said. "I think there's been enough talk about it.
"You can read comments about it, but it doesn't actually make an impact on what happens on the pitch.
"If Johnny knows he feels fit then I don't think he'll be frustrated in the slightest by it.
"He can definitely go out there and end a lot of that chat. He certainly got a hard time in the French game, with guys coming at him left, right and centre.
"Johnny's confrontational and aggressive, and that's just with us never mind the opposition.
"But Johnny can handle it. Johnny can handle himself more than most people out there, to be honest. So I don't think he'll be bothered at all by any of the talk."
Jones had already irked Ireland by claiming Schmidt's side kick away 60 per cent of their possession - a statistic on which the Irish were quick to pour scorn on.
"We've won two championships in a row and that's because of the processes that are in place," Trimble said.
"I don't think we're going to get bogged down in any of the stats that are unverified - I think that's the polite way of terming it."
Powerful Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey and combative Leinster flanker Josh van der Flier will make their Test debuts for Ireland on Saturday.
McCloskey has excelled for Ulster this season and Trimble has no doubt his club team-mate is ready to make the step up to international rugby.
"To say Stuart will handle his debut is probably an understatement; he always steps up to whatever is in front of him," said Trimble.
"I have been there all season with Ulster and I have had the opportunity to watch him step up to every challenge he has been faced with and it has been very impressive.
"He steps up to whatever challenges are in front of him, he relishes that and it's a big opportunity for him to just impose himself physically.
"[Ireland coach] Joe [Schmidt] talked about one or two areas he's working on as well, he's not the full package yet, but he's definitely getting there.
"He's working on his passing game, his offloading, and his defence. He'll be under pressure in defence this weekend and defensively we've got a massive midfield.
"It's something that we need to be very excited about, that physicality getting us gain-lines."