MAYO CAPTAIN CILLIAN O’Connor is expected to return to training with their squad soon after undergoing surgery on his knee.

It was revealed last night in an injury update released by Mayo GAA that O’Connor had gone under the knife to repair a knee problem but is expected to be ‘back on the pitch in the coming weeks’.

O’Connor’s inter-county campaign ended in late June when Mayo made an earlier exit than normal from the championship at the hands of Kildare.

The attacker kicked 0-6 in that game but despite that match drawing a line under his inter-county involvement for the year, O’Connor’s 2018 season only concluded at the end of last month when his club Ballintubber lost out to Galway’s Corofin in the Connacht senior club decider.

It’s not the first time that O’Connor has had an injury problem this year as he tore his hamstring earlier in a league game against Tyrone in March. In previous years O’Connor has had struggles in the off-season to fix recurring shoulder injuries.

O’Connor will be in action for a ninth season with the Mayo senior side in 2019. He made his debut in 2011 under James Horan and will team up with that manager again next season as Horan returns for a second spell in charge. 

The 26-year-old has won five Connacht senior medals with Mayo, helped them reach the All-Ireland final on four occasions during his career while also picking up two Young Footballer of the Year awards and an All-Star in 2014.

Subscribe to our new podcast, Heineken Rugby Weekly on The42, here: