Cian O'Neill will have to plan without Daniel Flynn for next weekend's Division 3 league final against Clare as the Johnstownbridge midfielder is still suffering from the hamstring injury he suffered against Tipperary in the penultimate round of the league.
Flynn suffered the injury as he kicked a point against Tipperary near the end of the Lilywhites' victory in Clonmel last month, and that injury is likely to see him miss the Leinster Championship opener against Wexford on May 21.
"Dan is on an extended rehab program as feared. He's a powerful man, so when you see him tearing when kicking a ball you can imagine it's not a small tear. It's a Grade 2 tear," confirmed manager Cian O'Neill.
The moment Daniel Flynn suffered the hamstring tear against Tipperary."He's doubtful, he probably won't be available for Wexford. We're looking at eight weeks without him. You'd anticipate that he'd be back training up to that point, but I just don't think you could risk him. I'd like to think straight away after that[he'd be available]."
Keith Cribbin may be available for that game against Wexford however, as O'Neill confirmed the Johnstownbridge star is back in full training, although he is not being pushed to his limits just yet.
"He's back training. He's not quite ready to play a match yet, but I'd like to think that in the next two weeks he'll be back playing with his club and training with us. He trained fully last Tuesday, he just did a kind of lighter on Friday night because when it was his first full session back you don't want to hit him with another one. It's great to have him back, he's trained so hard on his own," revealed O'Neill.
Another player who won't feature for Kildare in the Division 3 final is Cian O'Donoghue. The wing-back suffered a knee injury when playing for his club last weekend, but O'Neill says that he has no hesitation in allowing his players to play in club league games, despite the Clane man's injury.
"People say that's the risk of releasing players back to their clubs. It's not at all, these injuries can happen in intercounty training. He came down awkwardly on his ankle and his knee, so it was kind of a twist action. Unfortunately he won't be available," said O'Neill.
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