Cruciate fears for McCrabbe

Fears that Dublin hurler Alan McCrabbe's knee injury concerns his cruciate have been allayed.

The knock forced the Craobh Chiaráin clubman, who was on the 2006 Dubs Stars team, to miss last Sunday's memorable NHL draw with Kilkenny.

He is still rated as doubtful for the Dubs' next league outing against Antrim on March 4, although his knee injury is not as serious as first thought.

Rest and a series of exercises are expected to have McCrabbe back in full training in the coming weeks.

Dublin manager Tommy Naughton is also monitoring the fitness of O'Toole's defender Kevin Ryan, who was forced to withdraw from the team to take on Kilkenny due to a recurrence of an ongoing back problem.