Ian O'Riordantalks to the Loughrea manager Pat O'Connor ahead of their first All-Ireland appearance

At this stage Loughrea will be glad just to get into Croke Park on Saturday for the All-Ireland club hurling final, before anything else goes wrong. As if the challenge of facing Ballyhale Shamrocks were not enough, the Galway champions have lost centre back Nigel Shaughnessy to injury, midfielder Brian Mahony is a major doubt, and manager Pat O'Connor is still playing a limited role after undergoing two back operations in recent months.

O'Connor has described the injury to Shaughnessy as a "huge, huge loss"- and that's no exaggeration. One of their most experienced and able players, having also spent several years on the Galway panel, Shaughnessy broke a collarbone in a challenge match against Clare last Saturday week, and despite every effort to get him right he'll definitely miss out - a cruel twist of fate ahead of Loughrea's first All-Ireland appearance.

Mahony strained a hamstring in the same match, and while he's still hoping to be fit, O'Connor won't know for sure until Saturday morning when the player undergoes a final fitness test.

In the meantime the task of rejigging the Loughrea team is proving a headache in itself.

"We had a good challenge with Clare last Saturday week," explained O'Connor, "except Nigel took a knock in that game, ended up with broken collarbone, and is out now for eight weeks.

"It's a huge, huge loss to us. Our half-back line has been settled all year, with Nigel and Greg Kennedy alternating roles at centre back and wing back. He's also a very strong player, and really the heart of that defence. He's just not easily replaced.

"Our midfielder Brian Mahony is also carrying a hamstring injury, which leaves big doubts over his role as well. We just don't know at this stage whether he'll make it or not, and it will be a case of testing it out on Saturday morning.

"Normally a hamstring tear like he has would take three weeks to heal so we're just hoping he can recover quicker than that."

O'Connor has a few options for cover, including bringing Ray Regan back from the forward line or calling up Eddie McMahon, Keith Daniels or Shane Cusack - but whatever he does decide won't be finalised until Friday evening.

"It's just a pity because our team has been so settled at this stage," he added, "because it really has been picking itself all along this year, certainly from number one to eight.

"And our defence has been one of our strongest assets. We hadn't conceded a goal throughout the Galway championship, and that must be something of a record. It shows how good our defence has been and why Shaughnessy is such a loss.

"It's another setback but we've still got a lot of good training done since the semi-final. We're delighted to be in the All-Ireland final so it has been all systems go.

"We've earned the right to be there and we want to do ourselves justice now. We took on Portumna in the county final when no one gave us much of a chance there. So of course we're going up there to give it a cut.

"Obviously we're up against it with a team like Ballyhale. They're something like 4 to 1 favourites to win this and have so much talent. You can talk all about trying to mark players like Henry Shefflin and Cha Fitzpatrick but then someone else can come out on the day and win it for them. It often works out like that anyway."

One consolation for O'Connor is his own back problems, which necessitated two operations over the Christmas period, are on the mend. He's been attending most training sessions in recent weeks but his influence was limited ahead of the semi-final win over Cushendall.

Fortunately, he found some suitable cover in Cyril Lyons, the former Clare manager, who will continue in his coaching role for Saturday's final.

"I'm from Tubber in Clare and Cyril is from Ruane," explained O'Connor, "and we've been good friends for a number of years. He did one session with us before the county final, and after I had my back problems I asked him to come in and give a hand out, and he has been fantastic. He's attended every training session since."

Ticket details for Saturday's two club finals are available from the GAA website, through Ticketmaster outlets nationwide and in the Croke Park area from the Skylon Hotel, McCaughey's Shop on Clonliffe Road and Benny's on Emmet St.

Tickets cost €20 for adults, €5 for juveniles. Students and senior citizens must buy full-price Cusack or Davin Stand tickets and will receive a €10 refund on production of valid photographic ID (student ID must have an expiry date) at Block D turnstiles before entering the ground on the day of the game.

The GAA have advised patrons to purchase their tickets well in advance to avoid delays at ticket outlets on the day of the games and, when planning travel times, to allow for extra traffic resulting from the St Patrick's Day Parade in the city centre.

Patrons are asked to note the Clonliffe College car park will be unavailable on Saturday.