CORK’S ALL-STAR winning midfielder Darragh Fitzgibbon remains hopeful that he will be fit to feature for his club Charleville in their upcoming AIB All-Ireland intermediate hurling final.

Fitzgibbon was taken off with a knee injury in their recent semi-final win over Kilkenny’s Graigue-Ballycallan in Semple Stadium.

But the 21-year-old was relieved to discover scan results that revealed he had not suffered serious damage and is optimistic he can shake off the problem to his medial ligament.

Charleville face an All-Ireland final assignment against Galway’s Oranmore-Maree in Croke Park on Sunday 10 February.

“I did a bit of damage to my medial ligament but I suppose I’m working away with the physio now at the moment. So I’ve another 10 days to get ready so hopefully I’ll be okay.

“I’d a collision over by the sideline and I just twisted my knee. I went back on and I made it worse. Just in the end I had to come off.

I suppose I shouldn’t have really come back on is what I was thinking at the start. I was worried it might have maybe been a longer-term injury. But I got s scan after and I was kind of relieved when I realised it would only be a couple of weeks so it could have been worse.

“The adrenaline kind of got me through it coming back on. But for a club like us to get the chance to play in Croke Park on an All-Ireland final day don’t come around a lot and you want to make the most of it.”

Fitzgibbon has naturally been a key figure for his club in their route to the All-Ireland final, scoring 0-6 in that semi-final success.

The midfielder has made a major impact since bursting onto the stage with the Cork senior side at the outset of the 2017 season. He has been part of two Munster hurling triumphs and picked up an All-Star award last November.

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