Dublin hurling boss Mattie Kenny has reported an injury list to rival Kilkenny’s as the two counties prepare to face off next weekend.
Brian Cody is down a number of front line players for Saturday evening’s Leinster Championship opener at Nowlan Park though Kenny will be without Fionntan MacGib, John Hetherton and Cian O’Callaghan through injury.
Additionally, Donal Burke is currently sitting exams and intends on travelling for the summer once they’re complete and while Conal Keaney, Liam Rushe and Mark Schutte have resumed training recently, there are significant doubts over whether they’ll be fit enough to take part next weekend.
Kenny did sound a note of optimism on Rushe, saying: “This hand injury is a concern to him and to us. But Liam is a hardened campaigner.
“I’m sure we’ll do whatever we can to make sure that he’s available for us.”
Meanwhile, Kenny defended how his side set up in their last competitive outing, the League semi-final defeat to Limerick, after former Kilkenny star and Laois manager Eddie Brennan described it as “ugly hurling”.
“Every time you play a game, you come up against different teams that play the game differently,” said Kenny.
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“I’m not really interested in what happened against Limerick six weeks ago; I'm looking for what’s going to happen [this Saturday].
“I felt that some people that analysed the game got it wrong. They said Dublin played with a sweeper, which we didn’t.
“We tried to keep our half-back line in place, but Limerick pulled their full-forward way out to midfield and beyond.
“In any game, even teams in the past, you don’t necessarily see your half-back line playing above in your half-forward line.
“So, if they sat in that position, that doesn’t make them sweepers, that’s just they’re holding their positions. But, as I say, I'm not interested in looking back.”
He added: “Most teams, the centre-back plays centre-back. And just because there’s nobody there to mark him doesn’t make him a sweeper.”
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