Dan Shanahan has praised Davy Fitzgerald for the impact he has made since becoming Waterford hurling manager. Fitzgerald led the Deise to last year's All-Ireland final after less than three months in charge, and Shanahan feels a full season under the former Clare goalkeeper's management bodes well for Waterford this year. "He was there for three months last year and he brought us to the All-Ireland final, and we have him for 12 months this year," the 2007 Hurler of the Year said. "It's been fantastic, training has been brilliant, every fella has done the training. "We are definitely fitter than we ever were under his regime, with him and Gerry Fitzpatrick, and hopefully we can concentrate on the hurling, on the speed work from the summer months on." Waterford have been drawn against Limerick, who are managed by former Deise boss Justin McCarthy, in this year's Munster championship, but Shanahan claims that tomorrow's NHL clash with Galway is the only thing on the players' minds at the moment. "We're playing Limerick in the first round, but we're not thinking about Limerick yet," he insisted. "We're trying to blood a few young fellas into the panel. There are good young fellas in Waterford, it's just to find them and Davy has found three or four good young fellas and hopefully if they get their chance, they'll take it. "It's been a mixed league so far. We've beaten Clare and Kilkenny, two good teams, and lost to Tipperary and Dublin. "Our main aim is the championship and we've Galway on Sunday so we'll keep plugging away and hopefully we'll reproduce some of the form from last year." Tweet

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