Kenny: Canning only played as it was final

Galway selector Mattie Kenny revealed Joe Canning and James Skehill wouldn’t have started Sunday had it not been an All-Ireland final replay.

After damaging ligaments in his right knee the week before last, the Portumna star wasn’t fully fit and hadn’t trained for the week prior to the game, while Skehill dislocated his left shoulder in training on Friday night.

Regarding Canning’s setback, Kenny admitted: “He hadn’t trained for the last 10 days. Our medical team had to go fairly hard to get him ready. It wasn’t an impact (injury), it was just something he picked up in training, call it an over-use injury or whatever.