Larkin backs Shefflin to continue

Kilkenny captain Eoin Larkin has backed Henry Shefflin to continue playing and push on for a tenth All-Ireland medal.

Shefflin won his ninth Celtic Cross when Kilkenny overcame Galway in the All-Ireland SHC final replay last month and he will make history if he can help the Cats win the Liam McCarthy again in 2013.

The Ballyhale Shamrocks has had his fair share of injury problems throughout his inter-county career, battling back from two cruciate knee ligament injuries to win an eighth All-Ireland title in 2011.

He was forced to undergo another serious operation earlier this year to deal with a shoulder complaint, but the 33-year-old showed no signs of the problem as he helped the Cats rescue a draw in the first All-Ireland final.

Larkin is in no doubt that Shefflin still has the mental strength required to compete at the top and he sees no reason why he will call it a day when a record tenth title is on the horizon.

“Your head goes before your legs and, if you can get your head right, your legs will take you wherever you want to go,” Larkin is quoted as saying in The Irish Daily Star.

“That’s the way we think and I think that was proven throughout the year. If you are mentally beaten before you go out, your legs won’t carry you. But if you get your mind right before you go out on the field, your legs will take you where you want to go.

“Henry is probably the oldest, but I don’t expect him to retire any time soon. He is the role model there that everyone else follows so I would be very surprised if he let the chance for 10 slip away, especially after coming back from two cruciates and a serious shoulder operation this year.”