Laois' footballers have been handed a boost with Cahir Healy's knee injury not as bad as first feared.

The Portlaoise defender suffered a suspected third knee cruciate injury in as many years in last month's win over Clare last month and he was expected to miss the rest of the season.

But Healy says a scan has shown only partial ligament damage and he'll now meet with a specialist to determine the next steps in his recovery.

“I have partially thorn my cruciate, the lateral meniscus to be exact, and there is some cartilage damage in there too but it is not a full tear like the previous occasions," the former dual player told Laois Today.

“As regards how long I will be out or what the recovery plan is – I’m not sure just yet.

“The next step now will be to show the results to the consultant and the surgeon and they will determine what to do next. They might want to operate and clean out the cartilage or they might not. I will have to see.

“This was a very difficult one for me to take. The other two times have come as a result of collisions with players but this time it was just the way I turned.

“So now I will just have to see what the experts say and hopefully I can recover as quickly as possible.”