Goalkeeper Shane Duffy and wing forward Stephen Gollogly are expected to miss Monaghan's NFL Division 1 campaign next year after undergoing surgery.

The pair recently travelled to England to have hip-related injuries operated on, and join Conor McManus, Vinny Corey, Eoin Lennon, Hugh McElroy, John Paul Mone and Kieran Hughes on the sidelines ahead of the start of the new season.

New manager Eamonn McEneaney explained: "They had operations that require a four-month period afterwards to recover, so it is going to be deep into the year by the time they will be back and both will probably miss the National League."

McEneaney fears that rising star McManus will also require further surgery on the wrist injury he sustained while playing for Clontibret in the Ulster club championship last year.

"Conor McManus has a number of different problems which he has to get sorted out, one being a scaphoid bone injury, it looks like it did not fuse. There is an issue there. That could turn out to be a serious enough problem," the manager continued.

"We have injury issues that need to be dealt with concerning a number of players. Some of the injuries are serious enough and some involve varying degrees of surgery. Kieran Hughes required surgery for damage to tendons in both knees. He is definitely not going to be available for the McKenna Cup or for the start of the National League." Tweet

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