Brian Cody was proud that Kilkenny fought until the bitter end, but Wexford still secured a famous Leinster SHC Semi-Final victory.

Kilkenny must now go down the All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Qualifiers route and Cody wants the Cats to respond next month.

“Look, it’s the way it works," Cody replied when asked about how Kilkenny will look to respond.  "We all know the formation of the Championship.

"We are no longer taking part in the Leinster Championship, but we are in the All-Ireland Championship and that’s a big thing to play for."

Despite hitting the front early on courtesy of a TJ Reid penalty, Kilkenny stuggled for vast chunks of the first half against a determined Wexford outfit.

It meant that the Cats were under duress throughout. “Well look, it was a fierce battle right to the very end," Cody stated.

"Our players kept battling, kept going, so there was nothing in it at the end of the game. They had the upper hand on the scoreboard and that was it.

“There is always positives, but at the end of the day, the result tends to outshone the positives immediately after the game because the result is everything. Of course there were some very good performances out there."

Cody confirmed that Michael Fennelly was unavailable due to injury. “No, Michael wasn’t togged out," Cody said.

"He had a nice bit of training done, but unfortunately he pulled up last week really with a bit of an injury, so out of the equation tonight."

Kilkenny boss Cody also spoke about the decision to use Padraig Walsh in an attacking role. “I wouldn’t say it was a question of lining up on Shaun Murphy," Cody remarked.

"He (Walsh) lined up at centre-forward and Shaun Murphy didn’t particularly play at centre-back so I don’t think he was marking Padraig at any stage.

"I don’t think it was particularly interesting from that point of view. So Padraig has been out of the game for a while and that’s the way it went."

Second half goals from Reid and Colin Fennelly brought Kilkenny to within a point of Wexford, who had led by seven, but the Slaneysiders closed out the deal.

“Momentum did change during the game several times," Cody reflected. "We had it, they had it, but their response to our goal in the second half was very strong.

"They caught a couple of puckouts and got good scores."