Kilkenny midfielder James 'Cha' Fitzpatrick is set to play against Galway in Saturday's Leinster SHC semi-final clash at Tullamore. Last year's All-Ireland winning captain had been regarded as a major doubt for the historic game after suffering a hand injury, but his recovery has been quicker than expected and Cats selector Martin Fogarty is confident he will be fit. "'Cha' is coming on well, at the moment he should be fine," he said. Fellow midfielder Derek Lyng is also expected to be available, but is unlikely to start due to his lack of match practice. The Emeralds man has not played any competitive hurling this year after undergoing hip surgery. "He has been training away with us so once a fella is training, then generally they are available to be selected for matches," Fogarty added. A knee injury sustained in training on Saturday is threatening All-Star full back Noel Hickey's participation in the game against John McIntyre's charges. Fogarty explained: "Noel suffered a bit of a setback over the weekend. He hurt his leg. It is a setback so we will have to monitor that situation over the coming days. "That's enough fellas to be worrying about so hopefully everybody else will be okay." Long-serving corner back Michael Kavanagh and attacker Richie Power are both expected to line out after recovering from hamstring damage, but centre back Brian Hogan has been ruled out after breaking his collarbone in the NHL final against Tipperary on May 3. Tweet

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