KILKENNY HURLER MICHAEL Fennelly has targeted a comeback next spring in the wake of rupturing his Achilles tendon last Saturday night in Thurles.
Fennelly will miss next month’s All-Ireland final after suffering the injury in the second half of their semi-final replay win over Waterford.
It’s the latest setback for Fennelly who has been plagued by injuries in recent years and he is set to undergo an operation on Monday as he begins his rehabilitation.
While he will be watching on for the All-Ireland final against Tipperary on 4 September, Fennelly is not considering any thoughts of retirement at the moment.
“I’ve had a lot of injuries; especially with the back, it’s been a rough few years,” Fennelly told Ireland AM on TV3 yesterday.
“I’ve been here before but I’ve no doubt it’ll come back right again. We’ll just see how it is. You can’t rule out anything.
“If your body can’t cope with the load that carries it during the season, you might have to step away from it but we’ll cross that bridge. I’ve no intention of retiring at the moment.
Kilkenny GAA / Twitter
Kilkenny GAA / Twitter / Twitter
“Fingers crossed everything will go well with that (operation). Six weeks then in a cast and then another six to eight weeks in a boot and hopefully then by next February or March I’ll be back playing a bit of sport.”
Fennelly had injury concerns in the build-up to the replay clash with Waterford.
“The week before, during the first game, I felt a strain in it during the game and it was kind of catching me.
“During that week I took Tuesday off from training to rest it, and then Thursday I got out jogging around and it was still catching me.
“But look, with these things you normally warm up and you get going and you forget about it, but in the game itself then, the replay, it was causing me a problem again.
“But look you just strive on, adrenalin is pumping and whatnot, but unfortunately I went to accelerate and there was a pop. It was like someone shooting your leg or someone kicking you from behind.”
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