Mike Finnerty
BOTH Ger Cafferkey and Lee Keegan are expected to be fit to face Derry in the All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers on Saturday, July 1 in Castlebar.
The Mayo defenders picked up leg injuries while on Mayo club championship duty with Ballina and Westport respectively last Saturday evening, and are due to be assessed by Mayo’s medical team this week.
However, The Mayo News understands that Cafferkey’s withdrawal before half-time during the Stephenites’ win over Crossmolina was mainly a precautionary measure while Keegan is believed to have sustained a dead leg after colliding with Charlestown’s Jack Reilly in injury-time at the end of the game.
The Footballer of the Year finished out the contest but was limping as he came off the field at full-time.
Meanwhile, Aidan O’Shea played for all of Breaffy’s club championship win over Hollymount/Carramore on Saturday evening, but it was obvious that his movement and performance levels were significantly curtailed by a groin problem.
O’Shea’s training has been impacted in recent weeks by the injury, and he has only played for a total of 57 minutes in Mayo’s two recent championship matches against Sligo and Galway.
The only members of Mayo’s 31-man squad not to take any part in their club’s games last weekend were Breaffy’s Conor O’Shea (shoulder) and Castlebar’s Barry Moran (Achilles) due to their injuries.
Mayo were drawn to face Derry in the Qualifiers yesterday morning (Monday) and will take on the Oak Leafers in the championship for the first time in ten years at the beginning of next month.
A crowd of more than 10,000 people is expected to attend the Saturday evening fixture at MacHale Park, but a throw-in time for the game won’t be confirmed until early next week.
Keith Higgins will miss the match after receiving a one-game ban last week following his sending-off against Galway in the Connacht SFC semi-final.
Mayo’s focus turns to Derry
