Major injury worries for Cats

KILKENNY boss Brian Cody was last night sweating on the fitness of centre-forward Henry Shefflin and centre-back Brian Hogan ahead of next month’s All-Ireland final after both were forced off with injuries in the first-half of yesterday’s semi-final.

Hogan was first to depart in the 15th minute after receiving a heavy blow to this shoulder. The O’Loughlin Gaels player missed a large portion of last season after dislocating his shoulder in the National League final against Tipperary and there had been uncertainty over his fitness in the run-up to yesterday’s game after he injured his finger in training.

Shefflin was withdrawn in the 23rd minute after falling awkwardly on his left knee. The incident took place in the same area of the pitch where the Ballyhale Shamrocks star tore his cruciate ligament during the 2007 All-Ireland final win over Limerick.

However, the hope in the Kilkenny camp is that he has just suffered bruising rather than a recurrence of that injury.

Cody revealed that both players will undergo medical examinations in the coming days to determine the extent of their injuries.

“It’s a worry alright,” admitted the Kilkenny boss. “Neither of those players would go off easily. We’re hoping things aren’t as bad as they seemed, but things have to be assessed obviously over the next couple of days.

“They’re serious players and it’s only a few weeks until the All-Ireland, so we’ll be doing everything we can to make sure they are fit. Brian has hurt his shoulder and Henry has hurt his knee but that’s the only information that we have at the moment.”

Kilkenny have suffered injury travails this season and suffered another blow last week when defender John Tennyson was ruled out for the rest of the year with suspected cruciate ligament damage.

In addition, midfielder Michael Rice was out of action with a broken hand in the weeks running up to yesterday’s game, but did make a late appearance as a second-half substitute.

But Cody is confident that Kilkenny have a panel of sufficient depth to cope if they are hit by absences for the All-Ireland final on September 5. John Dalton and Michael Fennelly have both impressed as newcomers this season while full-back Noel Hickey has returned after a nightmare season out with injury.

“If you’ve only a team of 15 players you’re going to go nowhere very, very quickly,” says Cody.

“You have to have a panel and I would have a natural belief in the players. If any player gets injured it’s a killer on that player and I feel terrible sympathy for that player. But someone comes in and takes up the position and just plays for the team.

“You can never be the other fella so just get in and be yourself and do your job for the team.”