Kilkenny are worried about an eye injury sustained by rising hurling star Luke Harney.

There are fears that the 22-year-old could have sustained long-term damage to his right eye whilst playing for WIT in the Fitzgibbon Cup.

The Kilmacow clubman - who represented the Cats during this year's Walsh Cup - was forced off during the first half of the quarter-final win over LIT after being struck in the face by the sliothar.

The inside of the faceguard connected with his eye and led to sight problems, which have not been fully resolved a week later.

The former Kilkenny minor and U21 hurler was lining out at midfield this year for WIT but will play no further part in the third-level competition, which is played to a conclusion at GMIT this weekend.

At the moment, it's a matter of waiting for a couple of weeks to see if full vision returns. If the situation doesn't resolve itself with time, surgery may be an option. But these are clearly very worrying times for the player, his club and for Kilkenny.