Cluxton left kicking his heels

From the time he grabbed Davy Byrne’s starting spot during the 2001 Leinster championship, Stephen Cluxton has missed few important games for Dublin.

This Sunday is one of those days, his straight red card for a kick out at Mayo’s Kevin McLoughlin, seeing him miss the trip to Tyrone. It’s the second time he’s missed a game following a ban, his 2003 reaction to Stevie McDonnell in qualifier ruling him out of the following season’s Leinster quarter-final defeat to Westmeath. And with Dublin needing a win in Omagh to seal a semi-final place it most surely is the second most significant fixture for which he’s been absent.

Although injury has sidelined him on a couple of occasions in league games, squad rotation has been the primary reason for the 17 league games he’s previously missed. Including Byrne, he has seen off five goalkeepers and could well yet outlast Sean Currie who is line to take his place in Healy Park. The county’s U21 netminder Lorcan Molloy could be deployed instead but it remains to be seen whether Dessie Farrell and senior manager can come to an arrangement as the dual level players juggle commitments.