Ulster coach Dan McFarland says he is disappointed for the province's players who narrowly missed out on selection for Ireland's World Cup squad.

Will Addison, Jordi Murphy and newcomer Jack McGrath failed to make the final cut for the 31-man squad on Monday.

But McFarland believes there is a "very good chance" one or more of the trio could be called up as replacements during the lengthy tournament.

"All of them were very close to being selected," said McFarland.

"It's really disappointing on an individual level for those guys.

"Ultimately, we have got to put ourselves in a position where we can help those guys as a team to put their names forward.

"Leinster are a winning team. They get lots of people on squads because they win and are winning consistently.

"If we are in a position where we are winning and winning consistently, time after time, I'm telling you we'll have plenty of people in that squad."

McFarland has no doubt that Addison, Murphy, McGrath and scrum-half John Cooney, who also missed out on selection, will get over their natural disappointment to play a positive role for Ulster in the coming weeks.

"They are professional rugby players. They are not going to have their heads in two places," said McFarland after Ulster's 50-19 pre-season win over Glasgow on Saturday.

"They have to keep themselves ready [for a possible World Cup call-up] but they will be doing that naturally because they are with us now and they want to do really well for Ulster."

McFarland revealed that he has spoken to all four players, adding that they are "desperate" to get back to action.

"Jack for instance has come to a new club so he wants to get involved and show us what he can do.

"They want to play rugby. If they are playing well and the call comes [from Ireland], that will be that."