Kerry’s Barry Dan O’Sullivan blow stretches midfield options

INJURY UPDATE: Kerry's injury concerns are set to escalate with midfielder Barry Dan O’Sullivan’s knee injury likely to be a season-ender. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

KERRY’S injury concerns are set to escalate with midfielder Barry Dan O’Sullivan’s knee injury likely to be a season-ender.

The Kingdom’s medical team is awaiting confirmation on the ligament injury suffered by the Dingle man last Saturday in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, but the initial prognosis is bleak.

It’s a brutal blow for a player who has flourished at midfield since getting an extended run in the side in the absence of Diarmuid O’Connor. His manager Jack O’Connor spoke after the Munster final how the new rules had given O’Sullivan a new lease of life, but it appears his campaign this season is done.

Kerry will be shy O’Sullivan and other key regulars for the final group clash with Meath on Saturday week in Tullamore. Paudie Clifford didn’t see out the first half in Cork with a recurrence of a muscle injury, believed to be thigh- or quad-related. Diarmuid O’Connor has been trying to manage a groin problem and is unlikely to be risked in Tullamore with the knockout phase on the horizon.

Misery for some has seen opportunity for others though and Dr Crokes’ Mark O’Shea certainly grabbed his with both hands, literally and metaphorically, in the eleven-point victory over the Rebels. Plus Beaufort’s Sean O’Brien – who has been tagged as a marauding wing back – can also fill in at midfield. The same for Sean O’Shea in an emergency situation.

Paul Geaney also went off in the first half against Cork, clutching his shoulder, but is expected to be okay for the Meath game.