Galway footballers have suffered a massive blow with injury forcing Michael Meehan to miss the rest of the season.

The 29-year old, who burst on the scene when captaining St Jarlath’s College to All-Ireland colleges glory in 2002 and made his senior championship debut a year later, has been plagued by injuries. The star attacker underwent an operation in November to sort out a problem to his ankle which has dogged him for the past few seasons.

Galway manager Alan Mulholland said that recovery took longer than expected but there were hopes at the start of the league that Meehan would make it back for the concluding stages of the competition. However, that has not materialised and Meehan has now decided to opt out.

While he has not ruled out a return after a lengthy period of rest, it is deemed extremely unlikely he will return for this year’s championship.

Mulholland said Meehan had been a star player for Galway for over a decade, adding: “But we can understand his frustration and fully support his decision to give his injury a complete rest. Hopefully, he will make a full recovery.”