News round-up: Kilkenny county secretary Pat Dunphy yesterday denied there was any rupture in the relationship between team captain Charlie Carter and manager Brian Cody. Carter left Nowlan Park immediately after Saturday night's win over Dublin in the Leinster semi-final and before the team talk had finished.

Denials relating to this strained association are frequent but it is known Carter is unhappy at not being a first-choice player. On Saturday he wasn't even brought on as a substitute.

"Anyone who's not unhappy at not playing shouldn't be on the panel," said Dunphy, "but I don't think there's a real problem there. I'm told Charlie left after the match - I wasn't there myself at that stage - but I do know that he was down in Langton's for the team dinner."

Meanwhile, Waterford captain Tony Browne is upbeat about his chances of recovering from an ankle injury picked up in Saturday's Munster semi-final win over Limerick. Browne was replaced in the first half after going over on his ankle, the same one he has previously damaged.

"I'm seeing the specialist tomorrow (Tuesday)," he said, "but it's not broken. At the moment it's not too bad but a bit swollen. It's hard to tell at the moment until the swelling goes down."

Dublin's football management will probably name a side tonight for Sunday's Leinster semi-final against Laois. Jonny Magee is carrying an ankle injury, picked up in training last Thursday.

"He sprained it and didn't train over the weekend," said selector Dave Billings. "We expect him to be fit but you never know with ankle injuries. Alan Brogan is back running. The X-rays showed he should be all right but he took a fair bit of bruising. We'll have to wait and see if he's going to play."

Limerick dual player Stephen Lucey is set to return to action with the county footballers at the weekend as they attempt to beat Clare and reach a first Munster football final in 12 years.

Tyrone midfielders Seán Cavanagh and Cormac McAnallen are out injured, a double blow which has forced manager Mickey Harte into major restructuring ahead of Sunday's Ulster championship semi-final against Antrim.

"It's a big blow to lose two midfielders, but we've known for some time Seán would be out, while we feared the worst in Cormac's case. It's been confirmed by X-ray there is a crack in his cheekbone, and it's a minimum of a month before it will be safe for him to play."

Harte may look to forwards Kevin Hughes and Gerard Cavlan to play in midfield. Tyrone's injury list also includes Stephen O'Neill and Ryan Mellon.