A few more of these and a team other than Dublin might be in with a shout of winning the All-Ireland this year.
Eric Lowndes got a rare start for Dublin in Sunday's Leinster final against Meath. The St Peregrine's man took a place at half-back instead of James McCarthy.
The reason was an injury suffered by the Ballymun player. Post-match, Jim Gavin stated that he hoped to have McCarthy back for the All-Ireland quarter-final on August 6th. At the time, the Dublin manager said that McCarthy's absence was due to a quad injury.
According to today's Irish Mirror, it could be a much more worrying injury - one which could rule him out for the quarter-final and a possible semi-final on August 28th.
McCarthy has apparently sustained a medial ligament injury during training which could keep him out of action for four to six weeks. The injury occurred when the wing-back landed awkwardly.
Being without McCarthy would be another serious blow to Jim Gavin. He has already been shorn of the services of two players which formed their defence for last year's All-Ireland final victory.
Rory O'Carroll initially was set for a year - or possibly more in New Zealand - it has since emerged he will be spending the summer playing football in Chicago. Dublin are also without last year's Football of the Year James McCaffrey. The UCD medical student spent the summer volunteering with Goal in Africa. He will return to Ireland next month but will not join up with the Dublin panel.
Photo by Sportsfile
