Cork boss John Cleary provides update on injuries ahead of trip to Louth

Cork manager John Cleary has confirmed that defender Seán Brady will miss the next few weeks due to a hand injury.

The Ballygarvan player suffered the injury during the Allianz Division 2 Football League win over Cavan on Sunday afternoon at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Brady had to cry off after 59 minutes. 

The Rebels kicked the last eight scores to win the first game of their league campaign on a scoreline of 0-24 to 2-17.

“Seán Brady is out for the next three or four weeks,” Cleary said to The Echo on Tuesday afternoon.

“He has a broken bone in his hand. Losing Seán now for a few weeks is a loss, but that’s going to happen.

“Every team is going to get injuries. We won’t be any different. It’s a case of having the guys that are on the panel ready to step in when that happens because there will be a lot of attrition with seven league games in nine weeks.

“That’s what we tried to do over the winter time, to build up the panel and have lads ready to come in when someone gets injured.” 

Other than Brady, it’s largely positive on the injury front with no long-term injuries. Cork face Louth in their second league game on Sunday at DEFY Páirc Mhuire in Ardee with throw-in at 1.30pm.

“We will assess the players that picked up knocks the last day as the week goes on,” the Cork boss says.

“Knocks are going to happen in league football. I don’t think anyone is ruled out as of yet, but we will see how the week goes.

“Conor Corbett will hopefully be back in full training this week, but this weekend will probably be too soon for him.

“Cathail O’Mahony is in the frame for this Louth game. He picked up an injury against Tipperary a few weeks ago. He has had a week's training under his belt.

“Kevin O’Donovan is back in full training, but he was out for nearly three months, so he’s starting to get a bit of groundwork done in recent weeks.“ 

The strength of the bench worked wonders for Cork last Sunday with the five subs making an impact in different ways.

Matty Taylor, Dara Sheedy, Ian Maguire, Steven Sherlock and Maurice Shanley certainly strengthened the Rebels’ hand when introduced.

Sherlock got the winner thanks to his two-point free.