Mike McCarthy has been drafted into the Kerry team to face Tipperary on Sunday in the Munster SFC in his first competitive outing of the year.
The resilient defender has been selected at centre-back despite not featuring for manager Jack O’Connor in any of the National Football League action.
It will be the first time in 17 years that the Kingdom will not have Darragh Ó Sé available to control the engine room following the midfielder’s retirement from inter-county football.
The Ó Sé brothers, Tomás and Marc, have both recovered from injuries in time to take their places in defence for Sunday’s championship campaign opener in Thurles.
Tipperary have no injury concerns but are without key players Aidan Fitzgerald and Séamus Grogan, both have emigrated.
The match throws-in at 4.00pm in Semple Stadium this Sunday.
Kerry team: B Kealy; M Ó Sé, T Griffin, T O’Sullivan; T Ó Sé, M McCarthy, K Young; S Scanlon, M Quirke; P Galvin, D O’Sullivan, D Walsh; C Cooper, K Donaghy, B Sheehan.
Tipperary team: P Fitzgerald; P Codd, N Curran, C McDonald; C Aylward, R Costigan, C McGrath; K Mulryan, G Hannigan; P Acheson, P Austin, H Coghlan; S Carey, B Grogan, B Mulvihill.
