Stephen O'Neill is likely to miss most of Tyrone's NFL campaign after dislocating his right elbow in Saturday's McKenna Cup final.

Tyrone manager Mickey Harte says he expects the star forward to be out of action for eight weeks, which means he will miss the first five rounds of the National League. He could return for the games against Kerry (March 27) and Dublin (April 11), but Harte insisted he wouldn't be rushing him back.

"It'd be great if he was back by then but we'll wait for the medical people to tell us - if we can have him back for any of the league that'd be brilliant."

Assistant manager Tony Donnelly explained: "Stephen is going for an MRI scan later this week, just to check if there's any cracks, small fractures or chipped bones.

"We're hoping there's no fractures there, but we'll just have to wait and see. And we're hopeful of a full recovery in the time scale that we're talking about."

Full back Justin McMahon was forced off with concussion in the Brewster Park defeat to Donegal, but is expected to be available for next Saturday's NFL opener against Derry. Tweet

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