Davy Fitzgerald stopped short of banning his players from playing county football next year but did express strong reservations.

Davy Fitzgerald admitted his Waterford players were negatively affected by the mass hype prior to the 2008 All-Ireland hurling final and he is determined to avoid a similar scenario arising this weekend.

DAVY FITZGERALD, whenever he does depart Waterford, he’ll leave it in a much better state than he found it.