Kerry defender Aidan O'Mahony is set for a three-month spell on the sidelines after he has surgery on an ankle problem next week.
The Rathmore man, who postponed the operation until after his club's East Kerry final replay last weekend, will miss the Kingdom's McGrath Cup campaign and the Allianz Football league games against Mayo, Dublin and Derry.
"I've been trying to rest the ankle as best I can over the last two months but when the club got to the latter stages of the O'Donoghue Cup I felt I had to come back and give my all for them," the All-Ireland winner told The Kerryman.
"The body could probably have done without a replay and extra-time but, after losing so many finals in this competition, I'll take it in terms of winning another O'Donoghue Cup medal.
"People might say that I'm mad not to have gone for the operation by now but I was always going to put the club first in this situation because I wouldn't be playing for Kerry if it wasn't for Rathmore.
"It's just as big a privilege for me to be given a jersey to play with my club as it is for Kerry."
