Kavanagh out of Cork side

News round-up: Cork have suffered a major setback ahead of Sunday's All-Ireland football semi-final against Kerry with the loss of midfielder Derek Kavanagh, who sustained a bad ankle injury shortly after manager Billy Morgan had announced his starting line-up at training on Tuesday night.

Kavanagh collided with his Nemo Rangers team-mate David Niblock in what appeared to be a routine fielding of the ball, but he immediately felt a problem with his ankle. He went straight to Cork hospital for an X-ray, and while nothing was broken, he did sustain serious ligament damage, which will keep him out of action for between two to three weeks.

He described himself as "gutted" with the news, and added that missing the game in Croke Park was the "worst moment of my football career".

Morgan, meanwhile, has yet to confirm who will now partner Nicholas Murphy at midfield but is set give the role to either Martin Cronin or Diarmuid Hurley.

Kavanagh, however, has been enjoying a superb season at midfield since reverting there from a recent spell at full back. He played another central role in helping Cork get past Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final earlier this month, stepping up a gear in the second half to ensure Cork heightened their authority on the game.

Tyrone, meanwhile, will this evening announce their starting line-up for Saturday's quarter-final replay against Dublin. Manager Micky Harte got good news yesterday in that Joe McMahon has declared himself fit and ready for selection having been laid low with the flu for the past few days.

McMahon came through training on Tuesday night and is almost certain to be named at midfield alongside Enda McGinley, having made such a sensational impact when introduced at half-time in the drawn match. Should the 22-year-old be included then Seán Cavanagh is likely to be moved into an attacking role.

Saturday's game remains firmly on course to be another sell-out - with any announcement on the availability of surplus tickets likely to come later today.

In the meantime GAA president Seán Kelly has responded to criticism of ticket pricing for replays, and of the failure to offer reductions, as was suggested last year.

Stand tickets for Saturday's match were priced at €30 - which is less than the semi-final tickets, which are priced at €40. Yet Kelly was still open to the idea of reducing prices come replays.

"You have to take something like this step by step," said Kelly. "But it is something we would still look at. I would like to see us explore the situation where we draw up a certain budget and when we go in excess of it we would have a plan as to where we'd spend the extra money.

"There are two ways of doing that. Obviously we can reduce the price for the fans, but it might still be more effective to send the money back down to the grassroots, to the schools and clubs in particular, where it might be more appreciated."