Ciaran Whelan does not expect Stephen Cluxton to appear for Dublin's first championship game of the summer next weekend as questions about the veteran goalkeeper's inter-county future linger.
Last Thursday Ciaran Kilkenny insisted his team-mate was back training with the Dubs, saying: "Yeah, and there's numerous lads that are on the return-to-play list. He is [training]."
However Cluxton - who turns 40 in September - lined out for his club Parnells in their league match against St Brigid's on Saturday night, an indicator that he may not be involved when the reigning All-Ireland champions travel to Wexford in the Leinster SFC.
"I know the reports during the week indicated he was back in the panel but I think Ciaran Kilkenny was quite shrewd in saying he was on the list of players maybe to return," Whelan said on The Sunday Game.
"There still are question marks out there about whether he's actually returning to training. You would envisage with a championship game next week that if he was part of the plans he wouldn't be playing with his club when there was a round of league games last night in Dublin.
"Time will tell. It's only a week to go to championship. I don't expect him to play next week. That's being honest. I do hope I'm wrong, and I hope he returns in the next few weeks, but I don't [expect him to play], no."
Ciarán Whelan does not expect Stephen Cluxton to be between the posts for Dublin's championship opener against Wexford #rtegaa @DubGAAOfficial pic.twitter.com/q2FDShROKr
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 27, 2021
