Frustrated O’Donnell can’t wait to get back

Clare hurler Shane O’Donnell is disconsolate the hamstring injury he picked up last week has put him out of action.

O’Donnell picked up the knock during training at Cusack Park and is now facing a seven week spell on the sidelines, ruling the 19-year-old out of next month’s league decider, should Davy Fitzgerald’s outfit stave off Tipperary on Sunday.

Ineffective in the league’s earlier rounds, an assessment he wholly agrees with, O’Donnell’s injury frustration is compounded as it cuts short his recent return to form — four goals bagged in the Laois and Waterford fixtures respectively.

“It is extremely frustrating,” he said. “I was enjoying my hurling, things were starting to fall into place and then the hamstring just went. I was inconsolable for the first few days, but now I have stopped feeling sorry for myself and started to work on recovery and getting back as soon as I can. For a few days there I couldn’t talk to anyone.

“My own target to be back is somewhere between three and five weeks, the physio, however, has set a date further down the line, somewhere around four to seven weeks.

“It is nine days since I picked up the hamstring injury and it has been constant rehab every second day. I’ve only been able to lift my leg in the last couple of days so it has been really limited.”

O’Donnell accepts a possible league final return is unrealistic and the focus has shifted to the first round of the Clare championship on May 18.

“I would be extremely disappointed if I let down my club. That is the ultimate goal to be back for the first round with Éire Óg.”

Stemming from last September’s All-Ireland final exploits, O’Donnell was a closely watched figure this spring, but his contributions fell some way short of expectation. On the mark in just one of Clare’s five Division 1A outing, the full-forward said he was a mere spectator inside the whitewash.

“I bit off more than I could chew there just before the start of the league. I was training with Clare, training and playing with UCC and then trying to get in as much course work as I could.

“I was being pulled all over the place and I couldn’t quite manage it all. It had a bad effect on my hurling and I wasn’t hurling the way I wanted to hurl, the way I could have been hurling. I wasn’t on form at all. The games were passing me by, I wasn’t getting involved or making an impact. It wasn’t until the Waterford game I started to hit a bit of form. From there things started to look up, the Laois game went nicely and then this injury occurs. I am back to square one.”