BY KIERAN McCARTHY
CORK football captain Brian Hurley is in a race to prove his fitness for Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC quarter-final against Derry at Croke Park.
The Castlehaven sharpshooter missed the dramatic win against Roscommon last Saturday with the hamstring injury he picked up the previous week against Mayo.
Cork boss John Cleary has rated Hurley’s chances as 50-50 to be involved against Ulster champions Derry next weekend.
‘Brian will be up against it, we just have to see how his week goes. It’s 50-50 at this stage,’ Cleary confirmed to The Southern Star.
‘He wasn't right for last Saturday so we don’t know yet about next Sunday; it depends on how he gets on this week.’
Cork defender Luke Fahy came off with ten minutes to go against Roscommon, and Cleary confirmed he is also a 50-50 doubt.
‘Luke was going for a scan today of his ankle. Again we need to see how the week goes. It’s 50-50. These things are not long term but time could come too soon, like with Brian last week,’ Cleary said, but there is a better outlook for Ruairi Deane who also came off in the second half against Roscommon.
‘Ruairi is pretty okay. He had a neck injury the week before and he got another little bang on it. It was precautionary. He could have come back on again. He was a temporary sub, but we decided to keep him off,’ Cleary said.
