Jimmy Barry-Murphy is confident Sean Og O hAilpin can still make an impact at inter-county level despite spending a year away from the Cork senior hurling panel.
O hAilpin played no part in Cork's 2011 season after he was deemed surplus to requirements by the then manager Denis Walsh but he was invited back shortly after Barry-Murphy was appointed as manager in September.
Barry-Murphy has been impressed with his attitude and preparation but he knows only time will tell if the 34-year-old, whose ast game for Cork came in 2010 All-Ireland SHC semi-final defeat to Kilkenny, can cut it at inter-county level.
"We just felt he had a lot to offer still and I hope we will be proved right. He's a fantastic lad, he's a model athlete in his preparation and his overall demeanour," Barry-Murphy said of O hAilpin.
"I did say to him that we didn’t bring him back to babysit young players or to mind them - he's a player himself.
"But the example he shows in the dressing-room and in his preparation rubs off on other players and I think he has a very big part to play still.
"I think only time will tell if he can play at the highest level again, he knows that himself. But I would be very confident that he can, it certainly won't be from a lack of preparation or fitness."