Carbury defender Morgan O'Flaherty has been recalled to the Kildare senior football panel ahead of the Leinster Championship opener with Wexford next month.
O'Flaherty took a year out from playing with the county last year due to personal commitments and a busy schedule, but indicated to O'Neill that he wanted to come back into the setup this year. The Kildare boss felt he wasn't ready at the start of the year despite playing in some O'Byrne Cup games, and he sent O'Flaherty back to his club to find form and fitness.
O'Neill has said that the Carbury man is flying for his club and is ready to join his brother Eoghan on the panel, while Shane McNamara from Celbridge has also been drafted into the panel.
"We invited in several players in the last week or so. Many committed, some couldn't for some reasons," said O'Neill.
"My focus is on the five guys that did come in. Shane McNamara from Celbridge and Morgan O'Flaherty. He has got a lot of match time under his belt with his club[Carbury], which is something we couldn't guarantee with the county squad when he was coming back from injury. We've been happy with how he has been performing for Carbury."
Three members of the Kildare U21 panel that suffered Leinster final heartbreak at the hands of Dublin a fortnight ago have also been called into the squad, although a number of other players were also asked in to train but were unable to commit. Sarsfields duo Ben McCormack and Con Kavanagh have been drafted in along with Two Mile House goal poacher Chris Healy.
Ben McCormack impressed during Kildare's U21 Leinster Championship campaign."Several U21 players were invited in, three took us up on the offer. We're very excited to have the lads in. It's exciting for them as well. They trained Tuesday, they trained Thursday and they'll be with us again. It's great for them coming off the disappointment of the very cruel defeat to get in with the senior set up and they're full of energy, they're challenging and they're giving our defenders something to think about because they're forwards. They're good competition for the current crop of forwards," said O'Neill.
One man that won't be part of the panel in the coming week's is Healy's clubmate Mark Sherry, who is taking time out of the panel due to college commitments and to repair his body from the various injuries he has been carrying.
"Mark Sherry is taking some time out from the panel. Mark has had a few injuries and he has been sick for a while, exams are coming up and he just needs to take some time for himself at the moment. Mark has stepped away. We had a good chat last week, and we'll stay in contact because Mark is a big, big player for us and a big player for Kildare. It's something we'll monitor going forward," said O'Neill.
The panel will be cut further in the week following the Division 3 league final against Clare next weekend, and O'Neill confirmed that none of the new additions to the panel will be togging out for next Saturday's trip to Croke Park.
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