GALWAY MANAGER HENRY Shefflin has suggested that perhaps a lack of protection for Conor Whelan contributed to him being sent off against Dublin.
The Tribesmen finished their victory at Pearse Stadium with 12 players as Whelan and Daithí Burke were both handed straight red cards while Jack Grealish was sent to the line with two yellow cards. Dublin also lost Ronan Hayes to two yellows.
Shefflin believes that Grealish was “very unlucky” to receive his marching orders and is adamant that there was “no intent” while he was trying to block two players.
Commenting on Whelan’s red card, Shefflin hinted that the star forward had received a lot of attention in the build-up to the incident which may have been a factor.
“I didn’t see Conor Whelan’s truthfully but I know him as a very abrasive player when the ball is around him,” he told RTÉ Sport. “He takes a lot of punishment and sometimes that punishment that goes on for 45 minutes, I’ve been in that position myself and you can somewhat react.
“I would ask: ‘Was the protection in advance of that?’ I don’t know as I said. I didn’t see the incident and when I watch it back, I’ll probably be saying maybe.
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“Daithí [Burke] was definitely a bit late,” Shefflin continued. “Again, I’d have to see it back. I thought he was late and hit him in the shoulder. But if he did go frontal or [the] face, that obviously maybe warrants a red but I just thought there was no flow to the game. Unfortunately, people will be talking about the referee’s performance and the sendings off. We don’t talk about the best of referees.”
Shefflin also confirmed that 2017 All-Ireland winner Johnny Glynn has been training with the squad. Galway Bay FM reported during the week that the Ardrahan forward had returned to training, and Shefflin says that while Glynn is not officially part of the panel yet, his potential inclusion is under review.
“Johnny performed very well for his club last year. We watched the club championship closely, I would have had discussions with him over Christmas. I would have loved to have him come in, just to contribute and we made an arrangement that when he was back in the country this time of the year that he’d come in. He was in for the week training with us for the week and did a fair bit of work himself.”
Shefflin added that Glynn will return to America tomorrow but is expected to return to training in the coming weeks.
“We’re taking it very much week by week and the plan after this week is that he’ll come back for another week. He’s not on the panel as of yet but it’s something we’re going to review. We’ll know and he’ll know whether he can contribute for the season ahead.”
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