Jason Doherty ruled out of Dublin encounter

MAYO forward Jason Doherty has been ruled out of Saturday's All-Ireland SFC semi-final clash against Dublin at Croke Park.

The Burrishoole ace is undergoing tests on a knee injury he picked up in last weekend's Super 8s victory over Donegal at Castlebar.

Reports this morning suggest he may have suffered a cruciate ligament tear.

If scans reveal that such is the case, it will rule him out of action for a number of months.

The news comes during a campaign in which the Mayo squad has been hit with a series of injury setbacks.

But there is growing optimism that captain Diarmuid O'Connor will have recovered sufficiently from his wrist injury to secure a place in the squad to face Dublin.

There are also hopes of Donal Vaughan returning after his recent injury setback while Matthew Ruane was introduced as a substitute against Donegal after recovering from his collar bone break.

Goalkeeper David Clarke is responding well to treatment to his rib injury.