TIPPERARY MANAGER EAMON O’Shea has received a significant boost ahead of the Munster final against Waterford on 12 July with confirmation that 2014 Young Hurler of the Year Cathal Barrett will be fit to play.
Barrett sat out the Allianz League semi-final loss to the Déise and the recent Munster semi-final victory over Limerick after suffering a shoulder injury in April on a training camp in Spain.
But scans on Monday revealed that the injury has healed sufficiently and the Holycross-Ballycahill clubman has been given the green light for the provincial decider.
Barrett could step straight back into the team if Paddy Stapleton fails to recover in time from a groin problem that forced him off against Limerick, with Conor O’Brien and Michael Cahill vying for the other corner back slot.
Meanwhile, county board secretary Tim Floyd confirmed to local radio that training next week may be off-limits to supporters in the build-up to the game.
The doors were shut for one session leading up to the Limerick game as O’Shea fine-tuned preparations behind closed doors.
And Floyd told Tipp FM: “We are coming up against a Waterford team that have a system of hurling and it’s very important that we try to break down that system.
“There’s a lot of tactics going to be involved in this and similar to the preparation for the Limerick game, it’s not something that you want everybody coming in to watch, what way you’re going to break it down.”
It has also been confirmed that Tipp’s minor dual star Stephen Quirke will miss next Sunday’s Electric Ireland Munster minor football final against Kerry with a knee injury.
The towering Moyle Rovers clubman was stretchered off in the first half of last Thursday’s Munster minor hurling semi-final victory over Clare at Semple Stadium.
Quirke, who captains the hurlers, was scanned at Santry’s Sports Surgery Clinic on Saturday and a grade 2 posterior cruciate ligament tear was detected.
The problem is far less serious than first feared, but Quirke is still facing a minimum of two and a maximum of eight weeks on the sidelines.
He now faces a race against time to be fit for Tipp’s Munster minor hurling decider against Cork or Limerick on Sunday week.
And Tipp minor football boss Charlie McGeever confirmed: “He won’t make it back for Sunday — he may not make it back for a couple of Sundays but he will be back.
“It’s a question of time. He’s fortunate that he won’t be out for too long but unfortunate that he’ll miss the business end of things in the next couple of weeks.”
