Hopes high for Davy Fitzgerald to be in Clare dressing room

Hopes are high Davy Fitzgerald will be fit enough to take some if not all managerial duties for Clare in tomorrow’s All-Ireland quarter-final in Semple Stadium.

Fitzgerald was discharged from Dublin’s St Vincent’s Hospital on Thursday after undergoing a minor heart operation the previous day. The Sixmilebridge man had two stents inserted to alleviate a complaint. It is the second such surgery he has had in the last seven years.

If Fitzgerald opts against taking the sideline in Thurles, selectors Dónal Óg Cusack and Louis Mulqueen are likely to man the whitewash for Clare. However, it is expected Fitzgerald will at least be in the dressing room and on the pitch for the warm-up.

It is not uncommon for managers to make quick recoveries from minor heart surgery. Earlier this year, San Francisco Giants baseball coach Bruce Bochy was back at work two days after being released from hospital having had two stents inserted. In 2005, Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs returned to his duties in the NFL the day after a similar procedure.

Meanwhile, Fitzgerald is set to name an unchanged Clare team later today for the clash against Galway. It is anticipated Conor McGrath, fit again after recovering from a virus, will be on the bench.