Mayo hopeful on McGarrity injury

MAYO boss John O’Mahony is hoping Ronan McGarrity will recover from a hamstring injury ahead of Sunday’s NFL Division 1 clash against Monaghan.

The midfielder was injured against Dublin a fortnight ago and missed subsequent victories against Derry and Kerry.

Garrymore attacker Enda Varley, who has been hugely impressive in his debut NFL campaign, is also a doubt after suffering rib and hand injuries in Sunday’s victory over Kerry, but O’Mahony is encouraged by the recovery of Aidan Kilcoyne and Barry Moran.

O’Mahony said: “Ronan wasn’t a contender for Sunday, we hope he might be back next week against Monaghan. It’s a soft tissue injury and a bit more problematic than we thought. Aidan Kilcoyne and Barry Moran are getting closer. Enda Varley picked up a rib injury and a hand injury early on Sunday. We’ll have to assess them as the week goes on.”

O’Mahony is happy with competition for places as Mayo gear up for a bid to reach the league final. “We don’t want to focus on who we’re missing. Instead we view it as a chance to give other lads an opportunity,” said O’Mahony. “We’d like to have a situation developing come the summer that you’ll have two guys gunning for each position. We’ve managed to create competition and you saw on Sunday when Conor (Mortimer) came in, he was champing at the bit. Ronnie (Mark Ronaldson) did that in the Tyrone game and hopefully we’ll have other guys who’ll do that as the season goes on.”