Eoin Larkin set to make decider despite a hand injury

Kilkenny veteran Eoin Larkin should be fit for Sunday week’s All-Ireland final against Galway despite suffering a hand injury in a training game on Saturday.

The James Stephens man, 31, is understood to have incurred the setback during an in-house match in Fota Island. Larkin has started every one of Kilkenny’s eight finals since 2006 and would be a significant blow to a Kilkenny side with more than its fair share of injuries in recent times.

It is a tradition of Kilkenny under Brian Cody to take his team away for a weekend camp prior to an All-Ireland final. The Cats’ last serious pre-final injury came in 2006 when JJ Delaney tore his cruciate in a training game. Henry Shefflin’s similar problem in 2010 occurred in the semi-final win over Cork.

Jackie Tyrrell, who missed the All-Ireland semi-final win over Waterford, took no part in the game on Saturday and is considered a major doubt for the final as he recovers from an operation on a stress fracture to his ankle.

After overcoming a serious back injury to line out against Waterford earlier this month, Richie Hogan’s training is being monitored closely. The 2014 hurler of the year underwent a intensive course of physio treatment and took pain-killers to play the last day.