Limerick captain Hannon to be given 'every chance' to make All-Ireland final

LIMERICK captain Declan Hannon will be given a chance to prove his fitness as John Kiely's men prepare for their date with Kilkenny in the All-Ireland hurling final on Sunday, July 23.

Hannon picked up a knee injury in the Munster final win over Clare and missed the Galway semi-final and is in a race against time to reach the decider.

"He has got every chance," Kiely said in the aftermath of the Galway win. "We just have to wait and see how he is able to cope with the bit of work during the next week to 10 days. We will give him every opportunity to state his claim. We just have to wait and see."

Kiely also spoke on the decision to rule Hannon out so early in the run up to the All-Ireland semi-final. "We didn't want that indecision to be hanging over us. If he was out, we needed to have a real, live replacement.

"In order to give that player the head space to really take on that mantle the space needed to be cleared and no ambiguity about whether he was in our out.

"We made the right call. Declan wouldn't have been fit to play. Hopefully, we can get him back on his feet this week."