5 days ago
Tyrone handed major double boost as key Kerry pair ruled out of All-Ireland Semi-Final dust-up
Manager Jack O'Connor said namesake Diarmuid won't be fit to face Tyrone due to an ongoing shoulder problem, which the Tralee man aggravated in the first few seconds of Kerry's Preliminary Quarter-Final win over Cavan.
O'Sullivan suffered a calf muscle injury in the first-half of the Quarter-Final win over Armagh and left Croke Park after the game wearing a protective boot on his left leg.
O'Sullivan's Dingle clubmate, Barry Dan O'Sullivan, is the other player not available to the Kerry management having suffered an ACL knee injury in the All-Ireland Group Two win over Cork.
Beyond that trio, Kerry are playing a waiting game on the fitness of another few players – Paul Geaney, Tadhg Morley, Mike Breen and Tony Brosnan among them – before making a call on their availability or otherwise for Saturday's Croke Park showdown with Tyrone.
'Barry Dan obviously is gone for the season, and Diarmuid is unavailable as well. Tom won't be available for this game either. It's a calf injury. They're all losses,' the Kerry manager said on Monday.
'I think all the others are on their way back in some shape or form. Tony Brosnan is back training, that's all I'll say, and any fella back training has a chance. That's about the size of it. How their level of readiness is, I'm not too sure. We have two sessions left, this evening (Monday) and Wednesday, and we'll make a decision on them then.
'Mike Breen and Tadhg Morley are back doing some training. Paudie (Clifford) no ill effects, not that I'm aware of, he seemed to get through that half alright.
'Paul Geaney is training away but, again, has he gone at it one hundred per cent? Probably not yet, but he is close.
'We've had a bad run with injuries. It was only afterwards that I was thinking about it, but we were down anything up to seven starters the last day. I don't think any team in the country could ship that kind of attrition and try and survive.
'We'd be in a stronger position if we had a clean bill of health, but we have to deal with what we have to deal with.
'It has been a very tricky season. Not alone have we had to deal with a lot of injuries, but we've had to deal with trying to get players back from the clubs and incorporate them into the system.
'The Crokes players came back late, you have to give them time off. We had to give players like Gavin White five, six weeks off after the club season ended. It's a very tricky one.
'We've managed to incorporate them in, and just as well that we had as many players as we had because a lot of them have been used and we've needed those panel players.
'There are players who thought that they would have been on the periphery, they are now pushed into action and we're delighted with the way they're reacting.'
