THE NEWS OF Chris Crummey’s broken collarbone is a major blow for Dublin heading into the Leinster SHC, but fortunately for Mattie Kenny he’s blessed with talented defenders. 

Such are the options at Kenny’s disposal that he had been testing out Crummey in the Dublin attack before he went down against Wexford with a problem that required surgery.

Kenny revealed earlier this week that the former Sky Blues captain will “be out for 12 to 14 weeks by the looks of it”. He’s likely to miss the opening couple of rounds in the Leinster campaign, at least.

The nature of the injury means Crummey will have some catching up to do fitness-wise when he returns to action.

Corner-back Paddy Smyth is hopeful Dublin are building a squad capable of making up for Crummey’s absence. 

“It’s something he emphasised at the start of the year, building a panel. You saw the young lads, Andrew Dunphy and Alex O’Neill getting game-time yesterday and then Mark Schutte, Trollier (Eamonn Dillon) getting back.

“I think we’ve tried over 30 players in the league this year so it’s important to build that panel for the summer. We’ve four or five games in four or five weeks (in the Leinster championship) so it’s important to have 30 plus lads we can call on.” 

paddy Smyth was speaking as Kinetica Sports were announced as official sports nutrition partner to Dublin GAA. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

Crummey’s younger brother Paul started at wing-back last weekend and clipped over a couple of points. 

Conal Keaney had a plate removed from his shoulder a couple of weeks ago and his return will bolster the squad, adding another ball-winner to the half-forward line.

“Hopefully he’ll be back in the next couple of weeks,” adds Smyth.

Dublin’s defeat to Clare last weekend drew their league campaign to a close.

“It was disappointing,” says Smyth. “We got back into it at half-time, we got back level, and then they just pulled away.” 

They now face a 10-week wait until the championship begins, which isn’t ideal. 

“We have probably another couple of weeks training up until the end of March and then back with the club for all of April. 

“It’s disappointing not to have more competitive games but I suppose we can work on things ourselves. Bring up the fitness or different things on the training ground. That’s the time now, three weeks and then back to the clubs.”

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