Mayo manager confirms March return for O'Shea brothers
MAYO can expect a major boost in March with the return of the O'Shea brothers, Seamus and Aidan, while Ger Cafferkey is likely to be making his first appearance since an injury kept him out for all of last year's championship.
Mayo manager Stephen Rochford has confirmed to The Connaught Telegraph today that all three are back in training and he expects them to be available in March as Mayo's National League programme gets down to the serious end of things with games against Dublin on March 4, Cavan on March 19, Tyrone on March 26 and their last game against Donegal on April 2.
The win over Kerry has boosted Mayo's league hopes but their first half performance, especially in defence, left a lot to be desired, with David Clarke coming to the rescue on more than one occasion.
The return of Cafferkey, who was unable to play any part in Mayo's championship last year due to a hamstring injury, is a huge boost as Mayo seek to sort out their defensive problems ahead of their clash with Roscommon at MacHale Park on Saturday night, February 25.
Aidan O'Shea has not played any football since picking up an ankle injury while training with Sligo basketball team EJs, who qualifed for the National Intermediate Cup final where O'Shea watched from the wings, while Seamus O'Shea is also back from injury and in full training.
Rochford has already let a number of players go from his panel and more are to be released in the coming weeks as he gets down to selecting his final panel ahead of the championship with a few tough calls to make in respect a number of players very much on the periphery of making the final squad.
Alan Freeman has left the panel, the manager citing the work commitments by the Aghamore man which has curtailed him from giving the commitment necessary for 2017.
Mayo's red card appeal following the sending off of Tom Parsons in the game against Kerry was rejected by Croke Park last night and the Charlestown man will miss the Roscommon game. Danny Kirby, also back from injury, is his likely replacement at midfield.