No fresh injuries for finalists

There are no fresh injuries to report from either the Galway or Kilkenny camp ahead of Sunday’s All-Ireland final.

Galway’s Cyril Donnellan, who chipped a bone in his arm and failed to start the semi-final against Cork, has been passed fit to start.

The Padraig Pearses man has made a full recovery from the setback and is in the shake-up for a starting position when the team is named tomorrow evening.

“We have everyone available at this stage and thankfully don’t have any doubts about anyone,” said manager Anthony Cunningham.

With Michael Rice is out of the decider after suffering a nasty hand injury against Tipperary, it appears the battle for his place is a straight shoot-out between U21 player Cillian Buckley and available-again Richie Hogan.

Buckley performed superbly when introduced for Rice in midfield against Tipperary, while Danesfort man Hogan has served his one-game suspension following his sending off against Limerick.

Cunningham, meanwhile, has praised Galway fans for not putting pressure on players in the build-up to the big game.

Cunningham said supporters had not been bothering players looking for tickets and were allowing them to get on with preparing for the big match.

“We are encouraging players to concentrate on their own game and remove themselves from the hype that’s there and not get involved with social media or read papers,’’ said Cunningham.

“We know if we can take our top game to Croke Park and play for the 70 minutes we will win so we need to let lads concentrate on getting their game right for Sunday.”