Mayo's O'Connor unlikely to be back for Connacht final

Mayo forward Cillian O'Connor is itching to wear the green and red jersey again as he continues his gradual recovery from a dislocated shoulder.

O'Connor suffered the second dislocation of his left shoulder in just nine months when playing for Ballintubber in a club game in late May, putting his Championship season in major doubt.

The two-time Young Footballer of the Year is unlikely to be back in time for the historic Connacht SFC final between Mayo and London on Sunday, July 21, so instead is eyeing up a potential All-Ireland quarter-final in early August.

Speaking as a brand ambassador for Kinetica Sports, O'Connor explained: "I'm back doing light running and a small bit of ball skills. In the past fortnight, I've been able to go back kicking again.

"It's all away from the group and I haven't done collective training yet. It's getting there. It's a slow process but it's improving all the time.

"I'm trying to stick to the medical plan being laid down for me. The doctor, I keep putting pressure on him to tell me what the time-frame is. But we do a strength assessment every weekend to see how it's improving because he reckons it is different for everybody.

"July 21 might come too soon. If we were to get through that game, I'd hopefully be back for a potential game after that."

O'Connor actually made his senior Championship debut for Mayo when they played London in Ruislip in May 2011. The youngster came on as a substitute and scored a point as James Horan's men avoided a huge shock in worming their way to a 0-19 to 2-10 extra-time win.

London's gritty semi-final replay victory over Leitrim last Sunday sets up a novel final pairing for Castlebar in three weeks' time, and O'Connor knows full well how tricky the Exiles can be given past experiences.

"I wouldn't know any of the London lads, no. I wouldn't have expected to be playing them either, at least not at the start of the year," he admitted.

"But once they beat Sligo I thought they might come through the Leitrim test. I know Leitrim won the FBD League, but it was always going to be a close game. Now London have taken two scalps in Sligo and Leitrim, it's a huge achievement.

"I came off the bench against them in Ruislip in 2011. We equalised with the last kick of the game to bring it to extra-time. We were just happy to get out of there, so we don't need to be told the problems they can pose.

"We definitely took lessons out of 2011 and went on to win a Connacht Championship that year. We know all about the problems they can pose and the way they play."

Meanwhile, London midfielder Mark Gottsche missed the Leitrim game with a foot injury and will also be sidelined for the Connacht final. He is due to undergo surgery on Thursday.

The Galway man was the GAA/GPA Player of the Month for May having scored 0-4 as London earned their first Connacht SFC triumph by beating Sligo in their Championship opener in Ruislip.

Gottsche failed to make the breakthrough with Galway during Liam Sammon's tenure, and has been in the English capital since November 2010 where he works as a Senior Games Development & Logistics Manager with London GAA.

'A speed recovery' is on his mind as he targets a return to action later in the summer, but the German-born player is delighted that London have reached this stage of the Championship for the first time.

"It's massive for London to get to a Connacht final for the first time. Nobody gave us a chance at the start of the year but we knew we had talented footballers and (our manager) Paul Coggins came up with a game-plan this year to utilise the skills we have and (how to) execute them as best we could on the day," Gottsche told the Irish Examiner.

"We took it one game at a time, Sligo in Ruislip, the drawn game last week and then the replay, and now we can look forward to our next game. Mayo are odds-on favourites and there will be no pressure on us and let's hope we enjoy the day."