Double-jobbing Moran returns but Lucey still out
Moran was forced off in the first half with the O’Moore County after a blow to his neck but any fears about the seriousness of the injury were soon dispelled.
“I went in for a shoulder with a Laois player and just went in fairly awkwardly,” revealed Moran.
“I got a spasm in my neck and it was sore for a day or two. But I got physio and thankfully it came right so I’m good to go now again.”
Moran oversaw the progression of Árdscoil Rís to a second successive All-Ireland colleges final on Saturday and admitted his recent schedule has been hectic.
“I’ll be glad then to see the back of the double-jobbing that I’ve been doing over the last few months. But I’m enjoying doing the two of them.
“I’m fortunate that I’ve very good people helping out with Árdscoil and Donal O’Grady has been very lenient. When you’re winning it’s great and we’ll enjoy the build-up to the All-Ireland final.”
Moran’s availability means defender Stephen Lucey is likely to be the only player sidelined against Carlow, a game where victory would almost assure Limerick of promotion to Division 1 and a place in the Division 2 decider.
Lucey missed Limerick’s last two games having limped off with a hamstring injury against Westmeath last month. The Croom man has also been battling a shoulder problem and has been marked absent from the county’s footballers.
But fellow dual star Mark O’Riordan will be back in the frame for the hurlers this week having been involved with the football squad over the past two weekends.
A date for Lucey’s return is still unclear according to Limerick boss Donal O’Grady. “I’m not sure when Stephen will be back yet,” said O’Grady.
“At the beginning he had a hamstring problem and also a shoulder injury. We were told three to five weeks at that stage but it all depends on his progress. At least he’s the only injury concern that we have. Mark O’Riordan has been with the footballers but he’ll come back into the squad now.”
Limerick took a break from training last week and O’Grady revealed the management are now focusing on tailoring the squad’s fitness for the remainder of the league, as a large number of their squad have been in Fitzgibbon Cup training since the start of the year.
“Our policy with the Fitzgibbon players was to let them off to play with their colleges. We didn’t ask them to train with us, bar the odd Friday night if we were having a tap around.
“They have different work done for that in order to be a lot sharper for important games. We’re doing different fitness work. The difficulty now is going to be marrying the two of them together. We took a break then last week and now it’s Carlow that we’ll prepare for.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
