*Joe O’Connor battles with Brian McNamara. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
ALL STAR Joe O’Connor is among the Kerry absentees for Saturday’s Munster semi-final against Clare.
Jack O’Connor’s side come to Ennis as raging hot favourites but they will be down bodies and talent as they face off with Paul Madden’s side.
Kerry have returned from a training camp in the Algarve and lined out against Down in a challenge game following their defeat to Donegal in the Allianz National Football League Division 1 final.
Austin Stack’s O’Connor who was one of the stars of the 2025 season resulting in his nomination for Footballer of the Year will not be featuring this weekend due to plantar fasciitis.
Midfielder Liam Smith who started for Kerry during their two point win over Clare in the McGrath Cup in January has sustained a serious hamstring injury that has put his involvement for the championship on the line.
According to The Irish Examiner, the absence of the midfield duo could lead to a pairing of Barry Dan O’Sullivan and Diarmuid O’Connor lining out in the middle of the park. Mark O’Shea and Sean O’Brien were the starting midfield pairing for Kerry in last year’s All-Ireland final but O’Brien has been out of action since their last group game in the league against Armagh.
All-Ireland winning captain of 2022, Seán O’Shea is also on the treatment table with an ankle injury which he sustained in The Algarve, the talismanic forward is understood to be very doubtful for Saturday. Wing back Brian Ó Beaglaoich remains sidelined with a calf injury.
