Kilkenny will not rush players back

Kilkenny hurling boss Brian Cody has revealed that will not rush back any of his injured players for Sunday's National Hurling League final with Tipperary.

James 'Cha' Fitzpatrick (mumps), Derek Lyng (surgery) and Noel Hickey (groin injury) have all missed a substantial slice of the League campaign, and while they are all approaching fitness, Cody will not take any risks with them.

'Cha was out for a long, long time with sickness. He came on against Dublin and played a full match again at the weekend so he is working his way back,' Cody said.

'The mumps took a huge amount out of Cha to be honest and as he was recovering then he picked up a post-viral infection again as well which flattened him again for a few more weeks.'

'(Hickey) sat out the league but came through and played a match last week, which is great news for us but obviously Noel's a long way away from inter-county hurling still.'

'Derek Lyng, likewise, sat out the league and he is recovering from a hip operation and making good progress, but he hasn't played any match anywhere yet.

Elsewhere, Cody has more recent injury concerns, with Richie Power (hamstring) also set to miss the League decider.

'Richie Power is unfortunate. He picked up a hamstring injury a few weeks ago and he is definitely going to be out a few more weeks with that,' Cody added.

And when asked whether Power or the other recovering trio would be part of his squad for the Tipperary clash, Cody replied 'probably not'.