Noel Lane wants Joe Canning back in the maroon and white as soon as yesterday but the former Galway manager reckons his groin injury could yet be “a blessing in disguise” for the county.

The last Galway man to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup believes the Tribesmen “will never get a better chance” to end an All-Ireland senior hurling famine that stretches back to 1988.