British and Irish Lions centre Brian O'Driscoll believes that the selection of Rory Best for the tour can more than compensate for the absence of the axed Dylan Hartley.
The 30-year-old was named as the replacement for Hartley on Sunday, after the latter was handed a 11-week ban for swearing at the referee during Northampton Saints' defeat in the Aviva Premiership final on Saturday.
However, O'Driscoll feels that Best was very unlucky to miss out on an original call-up to the Lions squad.
"I don't think we lose very much," O'Driscoll told ESPN.
"Warren said it was the most keenly contested position when it came to making the call and Rory was very unfortunate to miss out.
"He's been an integral part of Ulster and Ireland's success in the past few years and he's a popular guy to have around."
The tour gets underway in Hong Kong on Saturday when the Lions face the Barbarians.
