KILKENNY DEFENDER BRIAN Hogan has revealed that he will be fit for selection for Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final against Tipperary after recovering from the leg injury that kept him sidelined for their quarter-final win over Limerick. Hogan incurred the injury in the wake of their Leinster final defeat to Galway while playing for his club O’Loughlin Gaels.
“The short story is that I basically had a bleed in the blood vessel of my calf in my right leg,” Hogan told TheScore.ie. ”It bled out. It was in a club match and I just remember the leg getting sore with about ten minutes to go. I thought it was a standard dead leg so I iced it, woke up the following morning and was in serious trouble.
“I went into the medics and it was a judgement call, they could open the leg but then you’re gone for the year. A specialist looked at it and you could be talking skin grafts or you could just basically try and ride out the pain and hopefully there’s no compartment syndrome,. There’s loads of stuff that can potentially go with it. But it’s fine, it’s settled down.
“I was off for a week, I was in for a couple of different MRIs and stuff. But I wasn’t admitted to hospital. It was a scary time. The first four days were rough enough now. Then it kind of settled down. Then the following week I went in for an MRI and the specialist said you mightn’t be over the worst of it just yet. But, it’s all right now. It’s grand and I’m back training.”
Hogan’s return means that he will be challenging for a spot in the defence with Kieran Joyce who deputized for him at centre-back for the Limerick game. Richie Hogan is the only player Kilkenny will definitely be missing due to the suspension he received after being sent-off in that quarter-final clash.
