Ireland manager Brian McEniff has confirmed Kildare midfielder Niall Buckley will miss Friday’s deciding International Rules test against Australia.
But McEniff will wait until the morning of the game to rule on Ciaran Whelan’s availability.
Buckley strained his hamstring in last week’s warm-up game against an Australian Institute of Sport selection but recovered in time to play his part as an interchange player in Friday’s 59-53 test victory.
However, the injury has worsened and has hampered his preparation this week, forcing him to miss training this morning and last night.
Whelan pulled a hamstring at the team's first training session in Adelaide yesterday and took no part this morning. Whelan and Buckley visited an Adelaide hospital for scans this morning.
Speaking to ireland.comtoday, McEniff said: "Niall has a double tear in his hamstring and is definitely out of Friday's game. Ciaran, on the other hand, has only a slight tear to his hamstring but we will wait until Friday morning before we make any firm decision on his availability".
Cavan star Dermot McCabe remains on the casualty list ahead of Friday’s crucial tie. He suffered a slight skin irritation to his left ankle last Wednesday, and it swelled badly after it was bandaged too tightly.
"Dermot had another injection today but he still remains doubtful for Friday," McEniff said.
It now appears likely Coman Goggins (Dublin), Francie Grehan (Roscommon) and Brendan Ger O’Sullivan (Cork) will play their part in the second test. The three were dropped from the original squad for the opening game.
"Coman, Francie and Brendan stayed on for extra training this morning with John O’Keefe as they didn’t get a chance to play last Friday. I’m delighted with their progress, you know, we have a great squad," said the manager.
Referring to the test match, McEniff said: "The Australians are definitely playing better as it does help to have the professional backup. I’m sure they have sussed out our strengths and weaknesses and they are definitely getting better with the round ball".