It has been revealed that Cork forward Daniel Goulding underwent ankle surgery last week that will see him miss the early stages of the Allianz Football League.
The Eire Og attacker, who has not featured for the Rebels since he was forced off in the All-Ireland fourth round qualifier win over Down in Croke Park back in July, is now targeting the March 4 clash with promoted Donegal for his comeback.
Goulding had previously hoped that he would not have to go under the knife, and thought he might be back in the team sooner.
However, his ankle failed to heal in the manner he had hoped and so, last week, he had the operation he needed at Dublin's Sports Surgery, to avoid missing out later in 2012 when Cork look to try and regain the Sam Maguire crown they conceded in 2010.
"The ankle was still niggling me so I went for a scan a few weeks ago to see how it was," Goulding was quoted as saying in the Irish Examiner.
"When the results came back they saw that there was still damage to the tendon in the ankle. So I had to get the operation to get it sorted. If you put it off, there's a chance it'd start giving trouble in the middle of the season and you'd miss games.
"It needed to be done and you're better off getting an operation at this time of year when it's quiet. I'll miss the start of the league but all going well I'll be back soon enough."
If Goulding fails to make it back in time to face Donegal then the game against also-promoted Laois six days later is also a possible return date.