MAYO’S PREPARATION for Sunday’s Connacht senior final against Sligo has been disrupted by Conor Mortimer’s sudden decision to quit the panel.

It emerged yesterday afternoon that the Shrule man made his decision to leave following team training on Tuesday night.

Mortimer was named among the substitutes rather than on the starting team at that session but there has been no suggestion that he decided to quit for that reason.

He is Mayo’s all-time leading scorer and was one of the most experienced players on the current panel.

Yesterday, a statement was released on behalf of the team management clarifying that the departure does not rule out the possibility of his involvement later in the campaign.

“Conor Mortimer has left the current Mayo panel for personal reasons,” the statement read.

“He is a fantastic footballer and the door is always open to footballers who are playing club football at the required high standard.”

Mortimer’s exclusion from the first 15 was not that surprising but his absence weakens the attacking options available to the team. His role within the team had changed following his extensive lay-off with injury last year.

During that period, manager James Horan entrusted Cillian O’Connor with the free-taking duties and the young Ballintubber man responded to the responsibility with a glittering season that earned him the young-player-of-the-year accolade.

His selection at centre-half forward was of little surprise. Mortimer returned to the panel ahead of the National League this year and rose to the challenge of earning his place back positively. He became Mayo’s highest ever scorer on the day when the team caused a minor shock by hammering All-Ireland champions Dublin.

But Horan decided to hold him in reserve for the next match and it was easy to understand the attraction of introducing a player of his experience and score-getting ability from the bench.

Mortimer’s decision to leave severs a long family connection with the Mayo football panel. His oldest brother Kenneth played in the All-Ireland final defeats of 1996 and 1997. Trevor Mortimer was reinvented as a half-back by Horan and finished a strong season with an All-Star nomination: he decided to retire in April as he was working abroad.

The Mayo team for Sunday is a combination of the new and familiar. Neither of the O’Shea brothers, who had formed the midfield fulcrum, have claimed a place although Aidan is expected to feature among the substitutes. Andy Moran, an All-Star last year, will front the attack and will be flanked by Enda Varley and Jason Doherty.

That means that there is no room in the starting line-up for Michael Conroy, who enjoyed a stunning second act in the league this year when he was chosen for Mayo for the first time since 2007.

MAYO:D Clarke; K Keane, G Cafferkey, K Higgins; L Keegan, D Vaughan, C Boyle; B Moran, D Geraghty; K McLoughlin, C O'Connor, A Dillon; E Varley, A Moran, J Doherty.