KILKENNY WILL BE without a host of big name stars for their hurling league opener against Clare next Sunday.
The Cats travel to Ennis to take on the All-Ireland champions in a Division 1 tie, yet will face into the game without Michael Fennelly, Richie Power, TJ Reid, Richie Hogan and JJ Delaney.
Fennelly is due back from Australia this week after being spending time in Sydney as part of the sports performance course he is studying in UL.
Delaney has also been travelling abroad recently while injuries are set to sideline Power, Hogan and Delaney.
“No one is long term injured or anything like that”, revealed manager Brian Cody. “It’s some injuries that have been dragging on for a while and they’re getting them sorted out, nothing too serious. We can’t say for certain when they’ll be back.
“Richie Hogan did a small bit of training on Sunday. He’d a knee problem and a touch of a hamstring. JJ was away for a month there, he’s just back last week. He’s okay, he’s not injured.
“Michael (Fennelly) is due back this week. We haven’t seen Kieran Joyce yet (tied up with club commitments). He’ll be back shortly I suppose.”
Henry Shefflin will be available despite not featuring in the recent Walsh Cup final win over Dublin.
“He’s absolutely fine. There’s no injury or problem like that. We just changed things around a bit and Henry is available for selection.”
Cody is relishing the chance for his side to pit themselves against Davy Fitzgerald’s All-Ireland champions.
“It’s a great game, we’re playing the All-Ireland champions in their own pitch. It’s a great challenge, a great game for us to start ourselves. But that’s good and it’s certainly going to be interesting to see how we do.”
