Positive injury news for Power

Fears over Richie Power's knee injury were allayed this evening when it was confirmed that the Kilkenny forward could be back playing in six weeks' time.

A short statement issued by the Kilkenny County Board said that the injury to Power's left knee is 'cartilage damage'.

The in-form attacker sustained the injury when playing for his club Carrickshock over the weekend and had to be stretchered off. There were initial fears that he had severed the cruciate ligament in his knee.

But surgeon Tadhg O'Sullivan has diagnosed the injury as severe cartilage damage.

Power will undergo surgery tomorrow in the Whitfield Clinic in Waterford and it is anticipated that he will be 'out of hurling action for a period of four to six weeks'.

The injury rules the All-Star out of next Sunday's Allianz Hurling League final against Cork, however he should be back in time for the start of Kilkenny's Leinster SHC title defence in June.

Brian Cody's men will take on either Laois, Carlow or Dublin at the semi-final stage of the provincial competition on June 23.

Meanwhile, Power's forward colleague Richie Hogan is back in contention to face Cork after lining out for Danesfort in a club game yesterday.

He suffered a collapsed lung and broke two ribs in a collision with Galway goalkeeper Jamie Ryan during the Cats' landslide Division 1A victory over the Tribesmen on April 1.

But Hogan has made quicker than expected progress in his recovery and acquitted himself well during Danesfort's hard-fought clash with Ballyhale Shamrocks.