Dermot Earley has been included in the Kildare team for Sunday's All-Ireland football semi-final against Down at Croke Park.

However, it is by no means certain that the All-Star midfielder will start after he suffered a recurrence of a knee injury in the opening minutes of the quarter-final win over Meath. He resumed training in recent days after minor surgery, but it's thought Sunday's game could come too soon for him.

If Earley is unable to start, Hugh Lynch will deputise for him.

Earley's inclusion means that Kildare are unchanged from the side that beat Meath by eight points at the start of the month.

There is one positional change, however, which sees Johnny Doyle named in the half forward line and Eoin O'Flaherty switching into the corner forward position usually occupied by the Allenwood clubman.

Kildare (SF v Down): S McCormack; P Kelly, H McGrillan, A Mac Lochlainn; M O'Flaherty, E Bolton, B Flanagan; D Flynn, D Earley; J Kavanagh, P O'Neill, J Doyle; E O'Flaherty, A Smith, E Callaghan. Tweet

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