Earley, Ryan back in Kildare plans

Kildare football manager John Crofton been boosted by the return of experienced pair Dermot Earley and Glenn Ryan to training.

The Lilywhites' Leinster championship run gets under way on May 28 with a quarter-final clash with either Offaly or Westmeath and both Earley and Ryan, with three All-Stars between them, have recovered from recent knocks.

Towering midfielder Earley, 27, has taken just under nine weeks to recover from the broken collar bone injury he sustained against Derry in early March.

The blow saw the Sarsfield clubman miss Kildare's last four fixtures in the National League.

Earley is now back doing contact work, as is ageless centre back Ryan, who made his inter-county debut back in 1990.

The 33-year-old Ryan strained his hamstring whilst playing for his club Round Towers last month, but with the assistance of army officer John Doran, with whom the Kildare panel have been training under in the Curragh Camp, the wily defender has now returned to full training.