Connolly facing a month out

GAA: Diarmuid Connolly is expected to be out of action for the next four weeks as he recovers from the ankle injury picked up…

GAA:Diarmuid Connolly is expected to be out of action for the next four weeks as he recovers from the ankle injury picked up in Dublin's Allianz Football League win over Kerry last weekend. The full forward will almost certainly miss the league clashes with Mayo and Kildare but could return for the meeting with Tyrone on March 16th.

Connolly limped off with a sprained ankle just short of the half hour at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney on Sunday, with the Dublin management confirming this morning that he faces a month’s recuperation. “Connolly is undergoing treatment on an ankle injury sustained in the Kerry NFL game and is scheduled to return to play over the next four weeks,” the county board announced.

Midfielder Michael Darragh Macauley is also ruled out of Dublin’s next game against Mayo, the first meeting of the sides since the All-Ireland semi-final last summer, after he was shown a straight red card in Killarney for some off-the-ball retaliation on Kerry substitute Kieran Donaghy. Dublin manager Jim Gavin will be able to bring in Denis Bastick, however, after he served a four-week suspension of his own.