Hero to zero as Ryan ruled out for Wexford

DARRAGH RYAN yesterday ruled himself out of Wexford’s opening defence of their Leinster SHC title - and possibly the entire championship.

The former Allstar defender, recovering from a knee operation said: “My inter-county championship aspirations at the moment are zero.”

Ryan underwent surgery to remove cartilage from his knee two months ago and his recovery rate has been slower than expected.

Ryan said: “I’ve only had 40 minutes’ hurling since playing with Leinster last October when I damaged the knee. Right now I’m looking no further than Saturday evening and my club’s opening SHC game against Shelmaliers.”

Wexford face Laois or Dublin in the provincial semi-final on June 12.

“I will gauge my position after that game and see how the knee stands up at the weekend. It will be my first competitive game of hurling in more than seven months. It felt fine after a club challenge last week when I played 40 minutes.

“But my spell on the sidelines, added to the fact that my physical fitness would be nowhere near inter-county level, rules me out of the Leinster semi-final. In fact my fitness would be nowhere near the level to even contemplate playing in the final should the lads reach it.”

Ryan had overcome two career-threatening cruciate knee operations to turn into one of the top full-backs in the game.

“This is not my worst injury but given the problems I’ve had with both knees, they need extra care. I cannot push too hard for fear of causing further injury. There’s no possible way I can contemplate going under the knife again to further my hurling career.”

Manager Seamus Murphy said: ‘It’s disappointing for Darragh but he feels his knee must be 100% right given his past problems.

“He’ll be a huge loss but we’ll see how he gets through his club game this Saturday evening.”

Murphy’s worries are not just confined to his full-back.

“I’m concerned about Darren Stamp for the semi-final. He took a bad blow to the back of his hand in a recent challenge with Cork.

“The problem was aggravated against Clare last Saturday. It’s badly swollen and looks a real mess. Further x-rays will be carried out on once the swelling subsides. Hopefully nothing is broken, but he’s a huge doubt.”