Kerry star Bryan Sheehan facing six weeks out, Eamonn Fitzmaurice confirms

A hand injury sustained by Bryan Sheehan could sideline the Kerry football captain for up to six weeks, manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice revealed last night.

Sheehan picked up the knock during the opening exchanges of Kerry’s league win away to Mayo on Sunday week last and will today meet with a specialist to confirm the extent of the injury. Fitzmaurice ruled Sheehan out of the trip to Clones this weekend and said there is a possibility that the Kingdom free-taker could miss the remainder of the league. “We are not sure of the exact nature of the injury just yet. The top end will be six weeks, the bottom end will be two weeks. It will depend on what the specialist says to him,” said Fitzmaurice.

“It was actually at the very start of the game it happened. From the throw-in, the ball broke away and he went to tackle and he just hurt his hand. It was tender, initially. He got through the first-half, got it strapped at half-time and said it didn’t impact on him at all in the second-half. Hopefully, it is not too bad. Obviously, it is a disappointment.”

The Kerry manager did accept, though, that a couple of weeks on the sideline may do Sheehan no harm, given the St Mary’s footballer has played 21 games between club, division and county since last September’s All-Ireland defeat to Dublin.

“A hand injury means you are able to train away, keep your fitness levels up, but at the same time, you are getting a break from a couple of games.

“Regardless of the injury, he was going to be off last week from training on the Tuesday and Thursday and play with his club at the weekend. We are going to mind him with regard to the fact that he has a lot of games played, but, you know, players love playing games, especially when you are playing well and especially when you are winning, that is what players want to be doing.

“We will take the positives out of it. If he does end up missing up a game or two or three, so be it, we’ll use that time from the point of view of making sure that he gets a good break and is mentally fresh when he does come back.”

Aside from Sheehan, Fitzmaurice said the only two other players who will not be in contention for the Monaghan fixture are the injured Anthony Maher and James O’Donoghue. Killian Young is back in the mix after missing their last three games with injury, while Paul Geaney featured prominently for his club, Dingle, over the weekend.

Opponents Monaghan enter the tie off the back of three successive defeats and the Kerry manager is expecting a backlash from the home outfit.

“The night in Croke Park, they were unlucky not to get something out of that game against Dublin, at least a draw, if not a win. The game against Mayo too was a tight game. There were a couple of games where the result could have conceivably gone the other way. There will be a big kick in them at home. They will be anxious to win and make sure they are safe themselves.”