Clare 'wait and see' with Cunningham injury

Young Clare forward Aaron Cunningham will be given 'every chance to recover' in time for the upcoming All-Ireland Senior and Under-21 Hurling Championship finals.

Cunningham pulled up with a hamstring injury during the first half of Clare's All-Ireland U-21 semi-final win over Galway last Saturday, making him doubtful for the seniors' clash with Cork on Sunday, September 8 and the Under-21s' encounter with Antrim six days later.

The fear is that the Wolfe Tones clubman has suffered a bad tear, but Clare PRO Seán O'Halloran said that the county's medical team are going to bide their time before making a full assessment.

"They're going to give it another day or two, let everything settle before they try to establish the severity of the injury," he told the Irish Examiner.

"He's receiving cryotherapy treatment initially, the cold chamber, but they're going to have to ascertain what grade of injury has been suffered before they get into the full treatment.

"There are three grades, from minor to serious, but nothing is known for certain yet. At the time it did look like a serious injury.

"But Aaron has certainly not been ruled out from making either All-Ireland final, the senior or the U-21. He will be given every chance to recover, that's all we can say at the moment."

The 20-year-old made his SHC debut for Clare in an All-Ireland qualifier against Limerick last July. He came on as a first half substitute in their Munster semi-final loss to Cork in June and made two further substitute appearances against Laois and Wexford in the qualifiers.

Cunningham's potential absence for the senior final would rob Davy Fitzgerald of an attacking option off the bench, while he has been ever-present for the Clare U-21s this summer, scoring 1-2 in their two-match run to retain the Munster U-21 title.