Cork v Offaly: Fitzgibbon and O'Flynn back following injuries

Cork manager Ben O’Connor has confirmed that captain Darragh Fitzgibbon is available for Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC quarter-final with Offaly while Robbie O’Flynn is back to fitness too.

Fitzgibbon missed the last Munster round-robin game, the win over Clare, and the one-point final defeat to Limerick following an appendectomy while O’Flynn had been sidelined with a hamstring problem. Declan Dalton, who was ruled out of the Limerick game with a calf strain, is also close to recovery.

Though Tommy O’Connell (broken thumb) and Tim O’Mahony (dead leg) are out for the clash with the Faithful County at FBD Semple Stadium on Sunday (3.30pm), O’Connor welcomes the increase in options ahead of the Cork team being named on Thursday night.

“Darragh's back and Robbie's back,” he says.

“Robbie got a full week last week and he’s back in; Deccie didn’t train last week but he did a bit on Tuesday night. It might come a bit early for him, we’ll have to wait and see Thursday night at training.

“On that front, it isn’t bad – I know we’ve the two boys out but we’ve a couple back too.” 

As to the extent that Fitzgibbon will feature, O’Connor will wait and see.

“We had a bit of a game last Saturday in training – it was very short but he got a bit of a blow-out in that and the same on Tuesday night.

“It’s amazing when you see how match fitness leaves fellas. He had a lot of work done with the boys, the strength and conditioning lads, but still, it’s contact and he didn’t have contact for three weeks.

“Darragh's good to go and it’s just to get as much as you can out without risking injury as well.

“That's the word coming from the lads, that he hasn’t got a load done, so we just have to get as much out of him as we can.”