Stephen Cluxton is a doubt for Sunday week's Leinster SFC final after suffering a lower back injury during Dublin's facile semi-final win over Longford yesterday.

Cluxton hasn't missed a championship game for the Dubs since 2004 when a suspension ruled him out of a surprise Leinster SFC quarter-final defeat to Westmeath, but there are concerns for his fitness after he was taken to the Mater Hospital following a mid-air challenge by James McGivney in the 22nd minute, which resulted in the Longford full forward receiving a straight red card.

 "He got a blow to the lower back. We'll review that over the next 24 to 48 hours and just assess the situation, said Dublin manager Jim Gavin, who was reluctant to criticise McGivney.

"Being very honest about it, it was hard to see from the angle I had on the '45 on the other half (of the field). It was just a mid-air collision, that's all I saw. These things happen."

Evan Comerford replaced Cluxton to make his championship debut and Gavin felt he gave a good account of himself.

"We just decided that Evan was there and we gave Evan the opportunity to see the game out and I thought he did well when he was there, so he took that opportunity well," he continued.

"We can see his progress on the training field. He's been working really hard. You can see he's very diligent, applies himself really well and he's got a great attitude.

"I think you saw there, there was a seamless transition which is a credit to Evan, to his application over the last, not only a number of weeks but a number of months and years."

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