Cork panel 'absolutely gutted' for O'Neill

The Cork senior football panel are coming to terms with the loss of in-form forward Colm O'Neill whose cruel run of luck with injuries has continued.

O'Neill suffered his third cruciate knee ligament injury in five years during the first half of last Saturday's Allianz League clash with Donegal, as his left leg gave way whilst he was turning in possession.

The 2012 All-Star had a consultation with Waterford-based surgeon Tadhg O'Sullivan and a scan confirmed the worst possible news for O'Neill yesterday.

Previously he suffered two cruciate ligament tears in his right knee, the first injury occurring during a club match with Ballyclough in 2008 and then in March 2011 he did the same knee when playing for Cork against Galway in the league.

Reacting to O'Neill's latest setback, Cork selector Brian Cuthbert told the Irish Examiner: "I can safely speak for everybody involved with the team by saying we are all feeling an intense personal disappointment for Colm.

"To come back the way he did from the first two cruciate problems was just awesome. So for him to suffer the same injury for a third time is gutting. We are absolutely gutted that he will have to face into rehab all over again. It is just terrible news.

"I don’t think it will impact on them as a unit psychologically as much as it will them individually because these things are part and parcel of inter-county football.

"As much as the players want everybody available they will also understand it is just something they will have to get their heads around.

“This group of players have had to deal with the losses of Colm as well as Daniel (Goulding) and Ciarán (Sheehan) among others before and are mentally tough enough to focus again on football."

Goulding returned from a knee injury as a second half substitute against Donegal, but Sheehan (shoulder) will reportedly be sidelined for three to five more weeks and another of Cork's leading forwards, Donncha O'Connor, is two to three weeks' away from recovering fully from an Achilles problem.

But Paddy Kelly, who has been nursing a hip injury, is set to sit out the entire Allianz League campaign with his return forecast for early May.

Meanwhile, Division 1 leaders Dublin breathed a sigh of relief after it was confirmed that Ciarán Kilkenny had only strained his medial knee ligament during their defeat to Tyrone at the weekend.

Kilkenny had to be replaced after just six minutes of the match at Croke Park having twisted his knee. The results of a scan showed that the young forward had avoided a season-ending injury, and instead he has been ruled out for four to six weeks.