CORK HAVE INJURY worries to contend with ahead of their Munster semi-final with defender Sam Ryan ruled out for the rest of the season while Sean Powter is a major doubt for the game.

Limerick’s win over Tipperary last Saturday means they will provide the opposition to Cork at the senior semi-final stage on 1 June in Páirc Uí Rinn.

Ryan, who started last summer’s Munster final against Kerry, tore a hamstring tendon in a recent challenge game against Laois. He suffered an impact injury when contesting a ball and will now undergo surgery.

A county senior football winner in Cork with St Finbarr’s last season, Ryan will watch on for the rest of the campaign with his Grade 4 tear injury similar to the severe one that has struck down attacker Brian Hurley twice in recent years.

Powter’s injury is not as serious but he is in a race against time to be fit for the Limerick match and needs further specialist opinion before the extent of the problem is fully known later this week.

The 2017 Young Footballer of the Year nominee has damaged his hamstring but it is not the same one that he injured in a league game against Tipperary in January 2018 which subsequently ruled him out for over a year.

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