The ankle ligament injury Lee Keegan picked up in Mayo's third round qualifier win over Armagh looks set to rule him out of the Galway game this Saturday.
Keegan is another injury headache for James Horan ahead of the must-win tie at The Gaelic Grounds.
The 2016 Footballer of the Year limped off late in the first half in the win over Armagh. Keegan joins a whole host of front-line Mayo stars like Diarmuid O'Connor, Matthew Ruane, Seamus O'Shea and long term absentee Tom Parsons on the injury list. It is understood that Keegan's injury is not too serious. The one-week turnaround will be too sharp for the Westport man to face rivals, Galway.
"As with any injury or medical intervention the privacy and confidentiality from a medical perspective is important for the players in allowing them the time for a full recovery. We will monitor their progress closely over the coming weeks." read a statement from Mayo GAA
Gaelic Grounds
The game between the two sides will be played at the LIT Gaelic Grounds in Limerick after no Connacht ground was "deemed capable" of holding the clash.
A statement from the GAA clarified that “efforts to fix the Galway-Mayo game for a Connacht venue were not feasible as there was no agreement between the counties to toss for home advantage, and there was no other Connacht venue deemed capable of catering for the expected interest in the tie. Both counties were consulted and agreed to the Limerick venue which has a capacity of 43,000 with 20,000 seats.”
Progress
Should Mayo progress beyond Galway on Saturday, it will not get any easier for the 2017 All Ireland finalists. Kerry will play the winners of Mayo and Galway in the first round of group one of the Super 8s. That game is scheduled for the weekend of the 13th and 14th of July. While a week later the winners of Meath and Clare will be in opposition. With that potential schedule in-store, Mayo fans will be hoping for a shortening of the injury list if they get a win on Saturday.
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