INJURED Dublin ace David Treacy has not ruled out the possibility of playing some part in the All-Ireland hurling qualifier clash with Clare at Croke Park on Saturday.

And even if he fails to make the showdown against the Banner County, he is hoping to feature in the Leinster U-21 final against Wexford tomorrow week.

The free-scoring forward has been dogged by a hamstring injury since April. He missed the Leinster opener against Laois on June 6 but was introduced for the last 20 minutes of the provincial semi-final against Kilkenny on June 20.

However, the problem recurred in the Leinster U-21 semi-final win over the Cats the following Wednesday.

But the Cuala clubman is set to return to training tonight and he is keeping his fingers crossed that he will emerge unscathed from his first full session since the day before the U-21 match against Kilkenny.

“If the hamstring stands up to the sprints and all the other work, I might be able to play some part in the Clare match,” said Treacy.

“The situation has been additionally frustrating for me as it’s not a serious type of hamstring injury — only a grade one.

“I’ve been getting deep-tissue massages from the physios and icing the hamstring, and that’s resulted in an encouraging improvement.”

Treacy said he was optimistic his hamstring problem was a thing of the past based on his experience in the Leinster senior semi-final.

“I couldn’t believe how well it went in the senior match against Kilkenny,” he said. “I really thought I was out of the woods.

“The hamstring was fine in the days after the match but then in the U-21 game it didn’t feel right in the first sprint I did. And then it felt far worse in the second sprint. I had no option but to go off. Since then I’ve just been doing light recovery work.”

Unsurprisingly, Treacy said he and his team-mates were gunning to bounce back after their 19-point mauling by the Kilkenny senior side.

“We feel it was just a case of us playing badly on the day,” he said. “It will be an interesting test against Clare as they’re a young developing team like ourselves.”

– Paddy Hickey

Irish Independent