Boost for Roscommon as O'Carroll and Heneghan return

EXPERIENCED duo Mark O'Carroll and Ger Heneghan have been recalled to the Roscommon senior football panel for the coming year - but manager Fergal O'Donnell has this week expressed concern about his side's preparations for the upcoming campaign. The return of St Brigid's midfielder O'Carroll and attacking ace Heneghan, of Castlerea St Kevin's, will provide some much-needed experience and know-how at inter-county level. O'Carroll, who has been at the heart of much of St Brigid's success in recent years, is back in the fold after a two-year absence, while Heneghan withdrew his services after last year's NFL, but has been recalled following impressive showings for his club Castlerea St Kevin's. Heneghan's clubmates Michael Killilea and Enda Kenny have also been recalled to boost manager Fergal O'Donnell's squad. However, Clann na nGael's Johnny Dunning and Karol Mannion (St Brigid's), who both picked up serious injuries towards the latter end of last year, still remain on the sidelines and might not return to action for several months yet. Weather permitting, Roscommon are due to face Sligo IT on Sunday in the opening round of the FBD Connacht League (Ballinode, 2pm), but Fergal O'Donnell has lamented a number of factors which have badly affected his ability to access his panel in recent weeks. Speaking this week, O'Donnell said: "We are not that settled at the moment, to be honest. We're currently looking at between 40 and 45 players, mainly young players with little experience and a few other older ones, and would hope to narrow that down to 32 by the start of March. The re-introduction of Mark O'Carroll and Ger Heneghan is good news for us. They will provide some much-needed experience and we're glad to have them back." "There have been a number of factors affecting our preparations including the bad weather, the ban on training together, under-21 football, and the Sigerson Cup. Many of our planned trial get-togethers didn't work out and it's proving difficult at the moment to access certain players. I would much rather get a few training sessions or practice matches before the Connacht League but it doesn't look like that will happen now." O'Donnell said that Karol Mannion recently suffered a setback in his return from an ankle injury but could be back in contention in time for the championship, while Johnny Dunning is also some way off playing after breaking his leg last year. "We are going to try be more competitive this year," O'Donnell said. "We took a few drubbings last year against the likes of Tipperary, Cavan and Mayo, and we really need to do better. We've drawn London in the championship with Leitrim awaiting the winners, but I wouldn't read too much into that. I'm sure London and Leitrim are looking at the draw and thinking they have every chance against Roscommon, so we just have to concentrate on getting a settled panel and doing our very best," he added. Meanwhile, there is one change to O'Donnell's backroom team this year, with selector Ross Shannon leaving the set-up to take up the post of Roscommon minor team manager. Stephen Bohan, Declan Hoare and Mark O'Dowd stay involved.