FOLEY WON’T MAKE REBELS SHOWDOWN

KERRY MANAGER Jack O’Connor has confirmed that regular full-back Jason Foley has been ruled out of Saturday’s Munster SFC semifinal against Cork at

Fitzgerald Stadium.

The Ballydonoghue man, a virtual ever-present in the side since he made his senior Championship debut in 2018, sustained an ankle ligament injury against Roscommon in the Allianz League.

“Jason is back running, but he’s a bit off it,” said O’Connor.

“It doesn’t look like he will partake for the next few weeks.

“Jason is obviously a big loss to us, but sure that’s the nature of the game.

“We have to try and cope without him.

Positions

“Traditional positions don’t mean a whole pile anymore, because it’s rare that teams are playing with three inside anyway.

“It’s like two marking inside backs, and one that drops a bit.

“That’s the way you have to go about it now but, absolutely, Jason is a loss.”

Meanwhile, the Kingdom boss is hopeful that midfielder Joe O’Connor, who picked up a knock before the recent training camp in Portugal, will be available for selection.

“Joe had an issue going out,” he added.

“He didn’t do on-field training, but he’s back training this week. He should be okay.

“Cillian Burke is back, Dylan Geaney, Tom O’Sullivan, Tony Brosnan, they’re all back training.

Connection

“Everyone that’s training is in contention. Brian O Beaglaoich had a bit of a bug recently.

“He missed a bit of training, but he should be back training this week. His injuries have cleared up.”

However, utility player

Stefan Okunbor and forwards

Conor Geaney and Ruairi Murphy remain on the absentee list for the provincial clash with the Rebels.

“Ruairi has been injured since before the league, so he’s a long-term injury, but he’s back doing a bit.

“Conor picked up a hamstring injury around the time of the Tyrone game in the League.

“Stefan has a muscle injury in the leg, which puts him out of the frame for a while,” added the Dromid Pearses club-man.