Mayo star Oisín Mullin set to return for final with Eoghan McLaughlin in contention after double jaw fracture

Mullin missed the semi-final win over Dublin more than three weeks ago because of a quad injury he picked up in an internal practice match the weekend before.

Initially it looked like he was out for the season but the current Young Footballer of the Year is understood to have made a strong recovery from the injury and has resumed training to put himself back in the frame to start.

Whether manager James Horan opts to start a player who won’t have played a competitive game in seven weeks by this weekend remains to be seen. But Mullin’s dynamic presence is still a lift for Mayo in the circumstances, given how strong his form was in the earlier part of the championship since his move to centre-back.

Also making progress is Eoghan McLaughlin who suffered a double jaw fracture from that tackle by John Small in the semi-final. McLaughlin has been participating in parts of training but there would still be a concern over any involvement he might have with the recovery time-frame from an injury of that nature.

Brendan Harrison is another who is giving Mayo added defensive options.

He was out of championship action since their All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Dublin in 2019 but made a late appearance the last day and is making further progress as Mayo extract some benefit from the two-week extension to the All-Ireland final date.