INJURY-HIT Cork will be missing 14 players who were involved in the squad last season for this Saturday’s Division 2 league opener against Meath.
While manager John Cleary has pointed out that the Rebels can still call on 20 of the 26 players from the squad that beat Donegal in the All-Ireland group stage last summer, the number of departures from the panel and the injury list is still a concern.
The Cork boss has revealed that defenders Luke Fahy (hamstring), Sean Meehan (hamstring) and Kevin O'Donovan (ankle), as well as forward Conor Corbett (ACL) will miss the entire Division 2 league campaign.
To add to Cork’s woes, Ian Maguire (quad) and David Buckley (hamstring) are both expected to miss the opening two rounds to the league, as Cork face Meath at Páirc Uí Chaoimh this Saturday and then travel away to Down on February 2nd.
Over the winter eight players stepped away from the Cork squad, for various reasons. The most high-profile departure saw Steven Sherlock opt for a year out, while seasoned panellists John O’Rourke, Thomas Clancy and Killian O’Hanlon all retired. Kevin Flahive, Damien Gore and Fionn Herlihy have all decided to take a break, while Castlehaven footballer Jack Cahalane has decided to focus on hurling.
Still, despite the upheaval in the squad, Cork boss John Cleary insists that promotion to Division 1 is the target as the Rebels get ready to open their season against the Royals on Saturday.
‘Every year promotion is the aim. Where we are standing now, our aim is one game at a time, obviously, but we feel we are as good as anyone else in the division. If we get off to a good start, have a bit of luck, things go for us and we perform, there is no reason why we shouldn’t be in the promotion hunt,’ Cleary told The Southern Star.
