Davy O’Halloran and Nicky O’Connell have both resigned from the squad with O’Halloran expected to join the county football panel instead.

The pair made the decision after being disciplined for going on a night out two days before a league game. Both players were injured at the time and weren’t going to be taking any part in the match.

“I had a strained hamstring so I wasn’t able to train anyway so that’s why I was out, I definitely wouldn’t have been out if I could have featured against Galway. And I wasn’t drinking.” O’Halloran told the Irish Times.

“Myself and Nicky O’Connell were out two nights before the Galway game and the two of us were actually injured at the time and we weren’t drinking.

“Davy wasn’t told until after the Cork game.”

The players were disciplined in front of the entire panel.

“He then called a meeting on the Tuesday night in the dressing room, he called it out in front of everyone [the punishments],” O’Halloran said.

The two were forced to tog out and train separately to the rest of the squad and forbidden to talk to team-mates during training sessions.

To compound their frustration they found out that another player had escaped without punishment despite having also been out before a game - and in his case consuming alcohol.

“We just thought it was double standards, one rule for us and a different rule for someone else just because he was a pivotal part of the team and we weren’t at the time basically,” O’Halloran said.

The hurlers wrote a letter to the rest of the squad explaining their decision to leave and were told Fitzgerald had torn up their letter in front of the remaining players.

Clare play Dublin this afternoon in the Allianz Hurling League, having lost their first three matches in the competition.