Patrick 'Bonner' Maher remains a serious injury doubt for Tipperary's Munster Senior Hurling Championship clash against Cork at Semple Stadium on May 21.

Manager Michael Ryan hopes the Tipperary forward, who suffered a hamstring injury on club duty for Lorrha-Dorrha will be available for the game.

"Too soon for Bonner Maher in terms of diagnosis," Ryan said at the Munster Championships launch in Killarney on Monday. 

"He did go off with a hamstring strain. The extent of that is not known right now. He was being seen today (Monday) by our physio, but it does take 24 to 48 hours to assess properly and get a proper assessment on it. There is certainly a question mark about Bonner right now. But we really don't know."

Ryan hopes that Seamus Callanan will be back in action following a thumb injury sustained in the Allianz Hurling League Semi-Final win over Wexford. "With Seamus we don't know, his injury is three weeks old," Ryan says. 

"It should be a long, long way towards healed. So we're very hopeful. We expect to see Seamus back on the pitch this week and we need that to happen."

But Tipperary must plan without Niall O'Meara, Donagh Maher and John Meagher. "Niall O'Meara is out with a back strain and quite a few fellas have picked up little niggly soft tissue injuries," Ryan remarked. 

"None extensive. Donagh and John Meagher who both featured in the League both suffered with hamstring injuries. Reasonably similar levels of recovery, but Cork will come too soon."