In an extensive interview in Tuesday's Irish Examiner, Stapleton details the aftermath of the push onto concrete at Cusack Park.

Stapleton suffered seizures and concussion and was forced to miss work for four weeks.

Malone was suspended for two matches as a result of the incident but Stapleton wished no ill on him. The pair had been in touch since the incident.

“Jamie Malone has been a gent. I'm glad he has moved on and is back playing so well for Clare. We’ve been texting forward and back since.

At no stage did anybody think it was done on purpose. If he caught me and brought me to the ground after the push there wouldn’t have been anything more about it but, no, Jamie has been onto me, Colm Collins phoned and one of the stewards from Cusack Park even came into the hospital. It’s been tough for all involved.

Stapleton was upset with how the incident was portrayed in Clare as if he and Tipperary had looked for Malone to be dismissed by referee Jerome Henry.

I know we got bad press in Clare but we had nothing to do with the sending off or the suspension. Looking back at the video, no Tipp player or backroom member brought any attention to it. The linesman was beside it and called it and it was done and dusted.

“I used to train the Fermoy footballers and the Kildorrery hurlers and I know a few of the lads from Mary I and they’d would be talking about nice a fella Jamie Malone is. I was hoping he knew nobody in Tipp was blaming him or it was a personal thing. It was just a freak result of the push but before people comment about any incident they might realise that they don't know how it can affect the people involved.”