Lyng on sickness in Kilkenny camp: ‘That’s not an excuse. Everybody out there was fit’

Lyng added that Kilkenny have "a few lads" with long-term injuries who are close to returning to fitness

Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng said his side's performance against Galway was "unacceptable". Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng confirmed there has been sickness in their camp recently but he refused to use that as an excuse for their 18-point defeat in Pearse Stadium.

Galway were comfortable throughout as Kilkenny failed to offer any test. It was their third game in three weeks, having beaten Waterford and lost to Cork.

“It is the same for everybody,” said Lyng post-match. “Look, we would have that before. It is certainly not an excuse to be leaning on. I will say it for the players, the last few weeks there has been a lot of lads out sick. Things like that. But, everybody that took to the field today was fit. It is just unacceptable from our side.” 

Mikey Carey limped off with a hamstring issue and Lyng is hopeful to have more players back on the field in the coming weeks. They were without TJ Reid and Adrian Mullen in Salthill.

“We had a few lads sick the last couple of weeks. It is going through the camp a little bit. That is not an excuse at all. Everybody that was out there today was fit. That is not why I am saying it. We have a few lads who are long-term injuries coming back. Whether they get back for the last match or not, I don’t know.” 

Kilkenny were six points down at the break before a burst of seven consecutive scores ended the contest.

“We were flat which is completely unlikely us. Credit to the opposition, they were very good. They were fresh. They were hungrier. That is the most important thing. Hungry is everything in sport. They won every breaking ball.” 

There is no doubt the Kilkenny side that make the trip in six weeks’ time for the Leinster championship clash will be better.

“It has to be. There is a big gap to make up there. It is a quiet dressing room in there. Everybody is disappointed. There is nothing we can do only work through it now.” 

Meanwhile, Galway boss Micheál Donoghue was not getting carried away with their evening’s work.

“Happy. It is two points, that's all it is,” he said.

“I think over the last few weeks, we have spoken about improving our consistency and I think today we got it for a longer period and in equal measure, we would have talked about our efficiency. I think both of them contributed to a decent performance.”