Michael McKernan remains hopeful of playing some part in Tyrone's Allianz Football League campaign.

The 2018 Young Footballer of the Year nominee is facing an eight-week layoff after suffering a punctured lung and two broken ribs while playing for UU against UCD in the Sigerson Cup last week, which leaves him in a race to be fit for the Red Hands' last two Division 1 fixtures against Donegal and Mayo.

“Leaving the hospital I just got a letter saying eight weeks, or around that time,” the Coalisland man explained to the Irish News.

“It probably just depends on how quickly the pain goes away. I'm telling myself I'm fine because I want to be playing, but I'd find it hard to get a deep breath still.

“I slept through on Tuesday morning and didn't get up to take the painkillers, so when I woke up I could hardly get out of bed. It's easing, I don't know if that's just because of the painkillers, but it's not as bad."

He added: “It was just a 50-50 ball, the ball was coming into our '45 so I went out to meet it and the boy was coming in, we just collided. At the start I thought I was just winded, and then I realised I couldn't breathe. The pain was bad.”

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