Austin Gleeson, Iarlaith Daly and Shane McNulty will miss Waterford's Munster Hurling Championship opener against Limerick on April 23.
Gleeson and Daly are recovering from hamstring injuries while McNulty broke a bone in his foot against Tipperary in the National League. Déise boss Davy Fitzgerald told WLR Sport last night that they are three big losses.
"The three of them are very close, they're not far away from getting back but they won't make that one I think. Is there a chance they'll make the bench for the Cork game? They might make the bench for the Cork game. The problem is the amount of time they've missed. It's just disappointing. Talking to a lot of other managers around, they're experiencing the same thing."
Hear more from Davy Fitzgerald on Lár Na Páirce from 6.10 this evening.
