James O’Donoghue set for long layoff from Kerry panel 

Footballer of the year James O’Donoghue will miss most of Kerry’s 2015 National Football League schedule to allow him time to fully recover from scheduled shoulder surgery.

Kerry team medics nursed O’Donoghue through the latter end of the All-Ireland-winning campaign to protect the shoulder problem he aggravated in the quarter-final win over Galway.

However the Legion man has been advised to have the problem sorted surgically and he will have the procedure on Friday in Dublin, and will be sidelined for between four and six months.

The problem first surfaced ahead of Kerry’s Munster championship opener against Clare. However his loss will, in part, be offset by the return to colour of Colm Cooper in March. Cooper has been out since last February with the torn cruciate ligament injury suffered in Dr Crokes’ All-Ireland Club SFC semi-final loss to Castlebar Mitchels.