No Con O’Callaghan as Dublin show hand for Armagh clash

The Dublin skipper picked up an injury against Kerry last month.  

Dublin manager Ger Brennan. Pic: Paul Phelan/Sportsfile

Dublin captain Con O’Callaghan is absent from the named panel to face Armagh in Saturday’s Division 1, Round 6 game in Croke Park.

O’Callaghan went off with a hamstring strain in the defeat to Kerry last month and did not feature in the subsequent win over Roscommon. He also missed the second-round defeat to Mayo.

The team announced by Ger Brennan is the same that began the victory in King & Moffatt Hyde Park. Cormac Costello is included among the substitutes.

Meanwhile, Malachy O’Rourke has accepted Tyrone’s performance “haven’t been good enough” in Division 2 thus far.

Tyrone have a remote chance of promotion but with just five points from five games they are not yet out of relegation trouble ahead of their clash with Meath in Croke Park on Saturday.

“You expect criticism, there’s no problem with that, and I’m well able to take that,” O’Rourke told “Belfast Live”. “It’s really important to try and shield the players from it, particularly the younger players, because a lot of them are only starting on their journey.

“We’re doing a lot of work on them, we’re hoping that they’ll grow and develop into really good inter-county players. Hopefully, they can get a wee bit of breathing space to do that as well. We know that performances haven’t been good enough, but we’re working really hard to try and put that right.” 

Tyrone could be safe from the drop before meeting Cork in Omagh on Sunday week. "We’re not mathematically safe,” added O’Rourke. “We knew that we had to win this one to put ourselves in a better position, but we know the next two are really important as well.

"We don’t feel we’re performing at our best or anywhere near it yet, but we want to get back to the training ground and work hard and get a really good performance against Meath.” 

DUBLIN (NFL v Armagh): H. O’Sullivan; E. Murchan, N. Doran, D. Byrne; E. Kennedy, B. Howard, A. Gavin; P. Ó Cofaigh-Byrne, C. McMorrow; L. Breathnach, S. Bugler, N. Scully; P. Small, K. McGinnis, C. Kilkenny.

Subs: E. Comerford, G. McEneaney, S. MacMahon, R. McGarry, C. Tyrrell, L. Smith, C. O’Connor, L. O’Dell, J. Lundy, N. O’Callaghan, C. Costello.

ARMAGH (NFL v Dublin): B. Hughes; T. McCormack, G. Murphy, P. McGrane; R. McQuillan, T. Kelly, J. Burns; C. O’Neill, B. Crealey; F. O’Brien, C. Turbitt, G. McCabe; C. McConville, O. O’Neill, O. Conaty.

Subs: E. Rafferty, A. Forker, T. Galvin, J. Duffy, D. McMullan, P. Burns, A. O’Neill, D. McCarthy, P. O’Keefe, S. McCarty, R. McDonald.

LOUTH (NFL v Derry): N. McDonnell; E. Carolan, D. Campbell, D. Nally; C. McKeever, D. McDonnell, E. Callaghan; T. Durnin, C. Early; P. Mathews, S. Mulroy, C. Grimes; C. Keenan, C. McCaul, K. McArdle. 

Subs: T. Markey, C. Branigan, S. Callaghan, S. Reynolds, J. Maguire, A. Williams, D. Dorian, L. Gray, T. McDonnell, D. McKenny, C. Downey.

MEATH (NFL v Tyrone): S. Brennan; S. Lavin, S. Rafferty, B. O'Halloran; D. Keogan, S. Coffey, C. Caulfield; B. Menton, J. Flynn; J. O'Connor, R. Kinsella, A. O'Neill; J. Morris, E. Frayne, A. Lynch.