Antrim may come too soon for recovering Marty

Editorial Department • Published 4 Mar 2010 14:40 0 Comments

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Marty McGrath is unlikely to feature on Saturday night against Antrim .<<

Marty McGrath is unlikely to feature for Fermanagh on Saturday night although manager Malachy O'Rourke is refusing to completely rule out the former All Star midfielder.

McGrath underwent knee surgery towards the end of last year and although O'Rourke had hoped to have the influential St. Joseph's clubman available for Saturday night's big clash against in-form Antrim, it appears that this might just come too early for McGrath.

"It is probably a wee bit too much to expect him to feature this week," said O'Rourke. "It would be doubtful whether he will play any part although we will see how he gets on this week at training. It is a slow process but there is light at the end of the tunnel."

Fermanagh have a couple of further injury concerns ahead of the Antrim game with Damian Kelly having been ruled out after receiving an injection to rectify a knee injury while Rory Foy is struggling with a groin injury. Rory Gallagher also picked up a hamstring injury during St. Gall's All Ireland semi-final win over Corofin last Saturday night although he would have been unlikely to be available with the All Ireland final under a fortnight away.

Goalkeeper could also turn out to be a problem position for O'Rourke. Ronan Gallagher, like Rory, is currently concentrating on the All Ireland Club final on St. Patrick's Day while there is a worry over Chris Breen with O'Rourke having called Tempo's Stephen Jackson into the squad.

"Chrissie has picked up a knock to the ankle put we are hopeful that he will be okay for Saturday night. We have called in Stephen Jackson as cover and he has been doing very well," stated O'Rourke.

With the league approaching the half way stage O'Rourke will consider making changes to his squad over the next week.

"We'll have a look at the squad over the next week. The availability of players may have changed and fellas may be in a position to return so we need to look at that. We have to have a look at the whole panel, we'll see what our options are and see what we feel we need moving forward," he commented.

The Fermanagh manager would also love to see the Gallagher brothers go on and clinch All Ireland glory on St. Patrick's Day.

"It would be great, there are not too many Fermanagh men with All Ireland medals and it is brilliant for them to be in that position. Hopefully they can go on and finish off the job on St. Patrick's Day," said O'Rourke.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 04 Mar 10

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