James Carr has had an injury-blighted season with Mayo. Photo: Sportsfile
James Carr is set to miss the start of Mayo’s All-Ireland SFC group campaign after another setback in what has been an injury-blighted season.
The mercurial forward has undergone a procedure to repair cartilage damage to his knee, making him a certain absentee for Mayo’s opening round-robin foray at home to Cavan on Saturday week.
On foot of a media inquiry, Mayo GAA confirmed that Carr has had a “knee procedure following assessments by the Mayo medical team for a meniscal injury. He will commence rehab shortly and we look forward to his return in the coming weeks.”
The Ardagh clubman has been a frustrated spectator for most of 2024, his sole senior appearance coming in the last round of the Allianz League when he came on after 50 minutes against Monaghan.
Since then, Carr has not a notable absentee from Mayo’s match-day squads for their three Connacht SFC fixtures, against New York, Roscommon and then Galway last Sunday when Kevin McStay’s men were overhauled in the dying minutes of the provincial decider.
That defeat propelled Mayo into a group alongside Cavan, Roscommon and the Leinster champions, either Louth or – in all probability – Dublin.
It remains to be seen whether Carr has any chance of battling back to match fitness for their second group game (away to Roscommon on the first weekend in June) or their final outing against the Leinster winners on neutral terrain a fortnight later.
Carr had a major impact in the first round of last year’s group stages, scoring 0-3 as Mayo condemned Kerry to their first SFC defeat in Killarney since 1995.
