TIPPERARY OFFICIALS HAVE poured cold water on speculation that star forward Seamus Callanan has suffered an injury ahead of the All-Ireland SHC final against Kilkenny on Sunday week.
Rumours swept through the Premier County yesterday that Callanan damaged his hand earlier this week and is a doubt for the 4 September showdown with the Cats.
But two high-ranking county board members insisted last night that they were unaware of any problem with the Drom & Inch hitman as Tipp fine-tune preparations for their sixth final meeting with Kilkenny in eight years (including the 2014 replay).
Callanan (27) has scored 2-34 in four championship outings this summer – an average of 10 points per game.
Any injury to the prolific All-Star would hamper Tipp’s chances of claiming a first All-Ireland title since 2010 but if there is a problem, it’s being kept well under wraps.
Tipp’s senior football captain Peter Acheson revealed this week that he broke a bone in his hand almost two weeks before last Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat against Mayo.
The problem only came to light when Acheson revealed at full-time that he had carried the injury into the game at Croke Park.
Acheson said: “Liam (Kearns) said to keep it between ourselves – we didn’t want the players knowing or Mayo knowing.”