STEFAN OKUNBOR HAS has been called into the Kerry senior football panel by Jack O’Connor, with Dr Crokes goalkeeper Shane Murphy earning a recall.
Inter-county teams were permitted to return to training last week and The Kerryman report that Na Gaeil’s Okunbor, who recently returned from a three-year AFL stint with Geelong Cats, was among the players added to O’Connor’s squad.
It includes Murphy, the Kingdom’s number one in 2018 before he departed the set-up the following season, and Jack Savage. The Kerins O’Rahilly’s forward finished as top scorer in this year’s Kerry SFC, firing 1-25 on the way to their final defeat to Austin Stacks.
The 26-year-old was blooded by Eamonn Fitzmaurice at senior level in 2017, appearing in the Division 1 final win over Dublin and All-Ireland semi-final replay loss to Mayo.
Okunbor’s Na Gaeil clubmate Andrew Barry was another to return to the fold, while county champions Austin Stacks saw full-back Dylan Casey, corner-back Jack O’Shea and midfielder Greg Horan added to the squad.
Casey skippered Stacks to their 13th county crown and alongside Okunbor will be the main contenders to solve Kerry’s problematic full-back position.
Elsewhere Glenfesk’s Darragh Roche – a key forward in East Kerry’s championship victories of 2020 and 2019 – and Spa’s 2014 All-Ireland minor winning defender Dan O’Donoghue have also been drafted in.
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