Paul Murphy says Kilkenny can thrive with or without their big names.

The Cats have made little of the absence of some of their household names to power through to the NHL final, proving that they have incredible strength in depth:

"We're very lucky to have them, but when they're away there are lads really pushing," the All Star corner back says in The Irish Times. "We're getting close to championship and lads are pushing for positions.

"Lester Ryan has really stood out there at midfield and Michael Rice is bursting for hurling. He's back and hasn't been hurling for a long time.

"Michael Fennelly, Henry [Shefflin] and TJ [Reid] will add to the team but, when they're away, there are always players waiting in the wings to come in and thankfully, they're playing great.

"It puts pressure on everyone to perform and to get their own position back. It's great that we can still perform without them."

As for the absence of manager Brian Cody, the 24-year-old adds: "There was no change in training. Maybe there was that bit more added motivation knowing Brian was going to be at home.

"It can't be easy for him so we were going to put in a good effort. It was just touched upon, obviously, the fact he wasn't going to be there, but we said between ourselves there's been some hard days when he's been on the sideline and this would be one of the better days.

"At least when he was at home, he could relax and he'd know that things were in good hand." Tweet

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