JOHN MAUGHAN HAS confirmed the return of sharpshooter Niall McNamee to the Offaly football panel.
The Rhode ace retired from inter-county duty in 2017, but is set for a sensational comeback with the Faithful in the coming weeks.
McNamee, 33, is currently rehabbing the knee injury he suffered during Rhode’s Leinster club quarter-final defeat to Mullinalaghta in November. He is expected to return to training this week.
“He is just back,” Maughan told the Tullamore Tribune. ”We have been monitoring him since he got a knee injury against Mullinalaghta.
“We have been engaging with him to see when he would be ready and hopefully he will be on the pitch training this week.”
It’s a major boost for Maughan, who is only months into his first season as Offaly boss.
The Mayo native recently bemoaned the number of players who did take up invitations to join the squad. He headed into this season without the likes of Michael Brazil, Sean Pender and Conor McNamee, while Brian Darby turned down an invitation to come out of retirement.
Maughan did manage to convince Kilmacud Crokes forward Shane Horan to switch his inter-county allegiances to Offaly and he made his league debut on Sunday.
McNamee made the last of his 132 competitive appearances for the county in the 2017 qualifier defeat to Cavan. He made his senior inter-county debut as a 17-year-old in 2003 and remains a formidable forward, having kicked 0-9 in the Offaly county final win over Ferbane in October.
The attacker’s return will greatly strengthen the Offaly forward unit for the Division 3 campaign. The Faithful lost to Westmeath by a point in their league opener last weekend.
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