An x-ray on Tuesday showed no serious damage to the shoulder injury picked up by Kilkenny hurling star Tommy Walsh in a club game on Sunday last.

Walsh is now expected to make a full recovery and be allowed to play for the Cats as they take on Tipperary in the All-Ireland hurling final.

Walsh received his shoulder injury while playing for his club team Tallaroan in a senior hurling league match against James Stephens when he clashed with player Jackie Tyrrell - also a county player.

Kilkenny's other injury concerns include Brian Hogan (shoulder) and Michael Rice (hand) along with cruciate victims Henry Shefflin and John Tennyson.

Rumors were rampant last week that Shefflin would make a comeback for the September 5 final but Cats selector Martin Fogarty has said there is no truth in it.

"The amount of rubbish being spoken is unreal," Fogarty said in the Irish Examiner.

"People have been raving around the country about this. With Henry, everything is being blown out of all proportion. Henry's cruciate is gone. End of story. Henry is trying to build up the knee so that he is in the best condition possible before he has to face the surgeon.

"If there is something still intact, that's fine, but if it's totally gone, the more work he has done to build up the knee pre-operation, the quicker his recovery will be. But the rumours are crazy. With the cruciate, when it's gone, it's gone."