The Waterford selectors have made no changes to the team for the Munster hurling championship semi-final against Cork in Thurles on Sunday. This means that fears about the fitness of Tony Browne, who played in their win over Limerick despite not being fully fit, have been allayed and he will take his place at midfield beside Fergal Hartley.
Browne played in the full match against Limerick with a suspect ankle and afterwards expressed fears that he might have caused further damage to the ankle.
Included in the starting line-up are corner forwards Michael White and Dave Bennett who were substituted in the Limerick match.
Cork are expected to name a full-strength side. Mark Landers has recovered from injury and is almost certain to be included.
Tipperary, who are expected to pick their team for Saturday's Munster hurling championship replay against Clare tonight, report no injury worries. Conor Gleeson has stitches in a head wound but is not causing any real concern. Liam Sheedy took a couple of hard knocks but is reported to be sure to be fit in time.
The Tipperary County Board secretary, Tommy Barrett, was, as usual, philosophical about the outcome of the match. "Those are the kind of things which happen in hurling. Everybody here believes we should have won it but you need more than a three-point lead to be sure in a situation like that," he said. Clare's doubts concern two men brought in during Sunday's match, Conor Clancy and Ollie Baker. They are expected to name their team tonight.
The match at Pairc Ui Chaoimh will be shown live on Network 2, starting at 3.30. On Sunday the station will have a football "double header" - the Kildare-Offaly match from Croke Park at 2.40 and the Mayo-Roscommon match from Castlebar at 4.20.
Unusually, the Laois versus Westmeath match will start at the early time of 1.0 on the Croke Park double bill.
Mayo are expected to cause some surprise when they announce their team to play Roscommon. It appears that the selectors have decided to experiment by playing their All Star corner back Kenneth Mortimer at centre half forward.
It is also believed that they will start the partnership of Liam McHale and David Brady at midfield. Both have been having treatment during the week, Brady having been injured in the match against New York and McHale in a challenge match against Tyrone last weekend.
Pat Fallon is also having treatment, but it would appear he will be on the substitute's bench in any case. The team will not be known officially until tonight.
Armagh and Donegal are confident that they can field unchanged teams for their replay of Sunday's drawn Ulster championship match at Clones next Sunday. Armagh's main worry is about the fitness of Diarmuid Marsden.
After a disastrous opening seven minutes which saw them concede two goals in the drawn match Marsden was called up from the bench and scored two very valuable points as Armagh fought back gamely to force a replay.
Marsden is reported to have been "very sore" after the match but he will be given lots of time to work off the problem.
Also causing some concern for Armagh is the fact that left corner back Aidan McNulty injured his right forearm during the match and he was in some pain afterwards. Nevertheless he was able to take his university exams in Queen's University yesterday and will have intensive treatment for the rest of the week.
Cathal O'Rourke and Peter Loughran have minor bumps and bruises, and John McEntee and David Wilson, who replaced them in Ballybofey, are standing by if they fail to recover in time. Donegal have reported a clean bill of health and will be hoping that they can cut out the errors which saw them throw away a two-goal advantage.
Westmeath have fitness worries about three of their players in the run-up to their Leinster championship match against Laois in Croke Park on Sunday. Doubtful are fullback Russell Casey and centre forward Paul Conway, both of whom were forced to leave the field during the match against Longford.
Also on the injured list and having treatment with the others is Kenny Lyons, who was sent off in the controversial match against Carlow but whose suspension has expired. He, however, suffered a leg injury in training and may not be fit to make a bid for a recall. The team is expected to be named tomorrow night.
Kildare have three casualties in the run-up to their match. Goalkeeper Christy Byrne injured a knee in a recent club match and Padraig Graven and Niall Buckley both have hamstring problems. All three are having treatment and a final decision will not be made until later in the week.
A total attendance in the region of 150,000 is expected at hurling and football championship matches at the weekend as the GAA heads into its busiest period of the year.
Waterford (SH v Cork): B Landers; T Feeney, S Cullinane, B Flannery; P Queally, S Frampton, B Greene; T Browne, F Hartley; D Shanahan, B O'Sullivan, K McGrath; M White, P Flynn, D Bennett. Subs: S Brenner, J O'Connor, G Harris, P Walsh, T Fives, A Kirwan, B Browne, A Lannon, M Molumphy, S Cunningham.
