Kerry hit with major injury blow as O’Donoghue faces second shoulder operation

Kerry football fans may want to stop reading right about now.

Because all that follows below is bad news for Kingdom football with the revelation today that James O'Donoghue won't kick a ball in anger for at least the first six months of next year. The Killarney man has a shoulder issue since his time as a Kerry minor and suffered a recurrence of the problem in last year's championship. After undergoing surgery last winter, he spent six months rehabbing the joint and returned for Kerry's championship clash with Cork in July. However he suffered another dislocation in the All-Ireland quarter-final win over Kildare, and despite recovering to play in the semi-final and final, the corner-forward admitted that he would have to undergo further surgery once his duties with his club were over for this season. He popped the shoulder again in the Kerry county final replay loss to South Kerry and it's believed he will undergo surgery on the troublesome joint before Christmas in order to begin rehab as quickly as possible.