Brian Cody has paid a glowing tribute to Michael Fennelly who was forced to call time on his glittering Kilkenny career over the Christmas period due to persistent injury problems.

Speaking to the Irish Daily Star after the Cats beat Offaly on Saturday to qualify for the Walsh Cup final, Cody said of the eight-time All-Ireland winning midfielder: "He's been a huge servant to hurling, to Kilkenny and to the (Ballyhale) Shamrocks. An outstanding player and probably the top midfielder in the country for a number of years there. He was fighting the odds for a long time due to injury and it's an even greater testament to him that he was still the player he was.

"He was a huge presence for us. Obviously he was on borrowed time and he knew that but he very much intended to try and give it another year, it just didn't work out for him.

"But very few players can look back on the type of career he's had, he can have no regrets. The only regrets for him are with regard to injuries and you can do nothing about that."

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