Eamonn O'Hara is on course for a return to the Sligo football fold for a remarkable 19th season.

The 36-year-old former All Star's inter-county career looked to be over after he suffered a cruciate ligament injury while playing for his club Tourlestrane against St. Mary's last July, but he has come back strongly and hopes to make a return in this year's championship.

"I had a few weeks of pre-hab before the operation and I have been doing my rehab after that; it has all gone to plan so far. It's not about setting a date or anything like that. Your body will tell you when it's right. I'm back doing a bit of straight-line running for a couple of weeks now and all has been fine. It feels rock solid," he explained to the Irish Independent.

"Sometimes you'll get a reminder from it saying, 'you've done too much', but it's just about managing it and knowing how far you can push it without going too far.

"The intention is to get it back to a place where you can play inter-county football. I'd love to be with the lads in New York (for their Connacht SFC opener on May 6) but that's not a deadline either.

"Kevin Walsh is keen for me to get back involved, but we both want to get it 100 per cent right first and we'll know when we think it's right."

O'Hara admits his recovery hasn't been as smooth as his recovery from a previous cruciate ligament injury he sustained against Kildare in 2002.

"I don't remember the aftermath of that operation being as painful as this one," he said.

"I was told that if you do one knee, you're 20 per cent more likely to injure the other knee. Unfortunately, that's what happened last year, but apart from picking up a couple of hamstring pulls everything has gone along expected lines." Tweet

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