Kerry selector Ger O'Keeffe says reports of Mike McCarthy's return to the Kingdom fold are premature. However, he hinted that the former All-Ireland winning full back, who quit the inter-county scene in 2006 at the age of just 27, would rejoin the squad in the coming weeks. "All it is at the moment is speculation. There are county championship matches to be played at the weekend and the management will be looking at all of them," O'Keeffe said. "The management have not met (since last Saturday's defeat to Cork), and the players have not met. The management will meet early next week and plan for the next game, but if you were listening to all of the rumours about various players, well, John B Keane would have great fun with them in a play." O'Keeffe admitted that Kerry could have no complaints after their replay loss to the Rebels, but paid tribute to Conor Counihan's charges who he believes are now serious All-Ireland contenders. "They played to their strengths, played very well and showed a great hunger. Cork have been knocking on the door and they will be knocking on the door again come late August," he predicted. "It's their hunger that impressed me the most, that hunger for success. They have managed to put a lot of the defeats they have suffered in recent years behind them and they're now playing with a confidence which will be troublesome for any team." Tweet

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