St. Thomas will be without Kenneth Burke for the AIB All-Ireland Club Hurling Championship final against Ballyhale Shamrocks on St. Patrick's Day.
The veteran forward suffered a serious hamstring injury during the semi-final win against Ruarí Óg Cushendall last month. Burke left the action after 37 minutes of the game with manager Kevin Lally sounding pessimistic following the final whistle.
That pessimism from Lally regarding Burke's condition was warranted.
"Kenneth's under pressure," teammate Conor Cooney said at an AIB event on Wednesday.
He got surgery there on his hamstring. Realistically, probably, he'll be out.
Bar that injury to the eldest of the Burke brothers, St. Thomas have a clean bill of health leading into the game.
"I suppose he'll be a massive loss for us," added Cooney.
"He's such a leader there and he has so much experience. He's so dedicated as well and he's just trained so hard.
"It's disappointing for him but we'll do our best to get the win and maybe do it for him in a way - maybe it might light a fire under a few lads and get us going."
Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
