HIS eye specialists might disagree – but Mark Poland says he will be fit for Down’s Ulster Championship first round clash with Derry on June 7.
It’s over two weeks since the Longstone clubman suffered the freak injury in the pre-match warm-up to the NFL Division Two final against Roscommon.
Poland was pole-axed by a stray ball minutes before throw-in and couldn’t see out of his left out for several hours.
Doctors have warned him not to do any running or lift weights. Poland still has 25 days before the Derry game at Celtic Park to make a call on his fitness.
“I hope to be fit. I’m not allowed any contact for a couple of weeks so I have to do what I’m told,” Poland said.
Initially doctors feared Poland had suffered a detached retina but it later emerged there was bleeding in the Iris and only bruising to the retina.
“The pressure in the eye isn’t right yet and the doctors think two to two-and-a-half weeks after the incident is the most likely time the Iris could bleed again.
“I’m not allowed to lift a weight or run. It’s something to do with the blood pressure, which can effect the eye.
“It’s over two weeks without doing anything. But I feel I’m on the mend, I will be grand for the Derry game.”
A stray kick-out from goalkeeper Stevie Kane caught Poland flush in the face and he lay unconscious for a few seconds before he was brought to a Dublin hospital.
“I didn’t realise the severity of it,” Poland revealed.
“It could have been a lot worse but I didn’t realise that at the time. I wanted to stay on and watch the match but I wasn’t allowed and I was told afterwards how dangerous it could be and how worried they were, so when you’re sitting in the hospital for a couple of hours that’s when you do start to worry.”
Missing out on playing at Croke Park was the most sickening part for Poland.
“The last time I was in Croke Park – Mayo 2012 – we got hammered and I got roasted into the bargain by Lee Keegan.”
Manager Jim McCorry will be monitoring Poland’s progress closely over the coming weeks as the Longstone clubman remains one of the team’s key men.
McCorry, though, has good options in attack. Jerome and Ryan Johnston are pushing hard for starting places in the Mourne attack, while their Kilcoo club-mate Darragh O’Hanlon is also a viable replacement should Poland not face Derry.
Paul Devlin, another Kilcoo player, has been used in midfield for quite a bit of Down’s successful League campaign but his natural position is centre-forward, where Poland plays.
Poland added: “I’m looking at the club fixtures and my club is low in numbers and the way the Down Leagues are this year five teams get relegated and a sixth goes into a play-off.
“I’m itching to get back and I was hoping I would have played for them by now. So it’s going to be a few weeks yet.”
Poland joked: “It gives me a good excuse if I put any shots wide against Derry! I can always fall back on that one.”
