Dublin boss Mattie Kenny revealed he only had a few hours to "re-jig" his team after being notified of Covid-19 issues ahead of their Leinster final loss to Kilkenny yesterday.

The Dubs lost named starters Cian O'Callaghan and Ronan Hayes, while substitutes Fergal Whitely and Oisin O’Rorke were also ruled out.

They suffered another blow early on in the game when Eoghan O’Donnell succumbed to injury after three minutes, while Mark Schutte came off at half-time.

The Cats ran out nine-point winners as they claimed a 73rd provincial title.

"They were deemed close contacts, we got notified by the HSE that our players were close contacts and we lost four guys," Kenny told RTÉ Sport.

"Look it, that’s what our squad is for. We had to re-jig things a little bit but that's part and parcel of modern-day Ireland, isn't it?

"We talked to the players this morning and we asked the guys to pull behind us and concentrate on the game.

"Our guys were very brave there, we asked them to be brave and drive on. They were very brave between the two injuries in the first half, and losing the six guys was a massive loss.

"Our guys did themselves proud, they did Dublin proud. We’ll regroup."

Dublin head for the qualifiers, with the draw to take place on RTÉ's Morning Ireland on Monday.

Kilkenny, meanwhile are through to an All-Ireland semi-final.

Manager Brian Cody said: "Dublin were really competitive and we just kept tapping on the points and got a bit of breathing space. The work-rate was good in the second half.

"We ended up winning by a reasonable amount but we’re conscious that Dublin were short some very good players, too.

"We have a young team, a young panel and there’s obviously some top-class experienced players there as well.

"We should be competitive at all times and that’s what we are at the moment. That doesn’t guarantee success but it’s the first thing you have to be."