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Down injury crisis deepens as crucial games loom in Division Two relegation battle

Down manager James McCartan had just 17 fit players at training on Saturday as he looks to patch up his squad ahead of this weekend's pivotal Division Two clash with Offaly at Pairc Esler                      Picture: Philip Walsh
Down manager James McCartan had just 17 fit players at training on Saturday as he looks to patch up his squad ahead of this weekend's pivotal Division Two clash with Offaly at Pairc Esler Picture: Philip Walsh Down manager James McCartan had just 17 fit players at training on Saturday as he looks to patch up his squad ahead of this weekend's pivotal Division Two clash with Offaly at Pairc Esler Picture: Philip Walsh

ONLY 17 outfield players turned up fit to train for relegation-threatened Down on Saturday morning.

The Mournemen are beset with injuries and unavailability and, although All-Ireland club winners Ryan McEvoy and Anthony Morgan have now linked up with the squad, things may yet get worse for Down before they get better.

Kilcoo full-back McEvoy was unable to train on Saturday and Morgan limped out of the session while Caolan Mooney (quad), Barry O’Hagan (rib injury), Pat Havern and Andrew Gilmore (hamstring strains) also sat out the weekend session.

Kilcoo’s All-Ireland final goal-scoring hero Jerome Johnston has yet to train with the squad and Ceilum Doherty is currently abroad so, with one point on the board and just three games to go, the odds seem stacked against James McCartan’s men surviving in Division Two and avoiding being part of the second tier Tailteann Cup competition.

McCartan remains defiant however and insists that, with games against fellow strugglers Offaly (Pairc Esler next Saturday) and Cork coming up and Clare to visit Newry, there is still hope.

“We do see it as still in our own hands but it’s only in our hands if we can start making improvements,” he said.

After losses to promotion-chasing Derry and Galway, green shoots of recovery emerged when Down took a point against Meath in Navan but that optimism was stamped out the following weekend when Roscommon ran riot in Newry.

“The last day out was a step back, a big step back,” McCartan admitted.

“We felt we had been improving prior to that and we were very encouraged with the result in Meath. We didn’t win the game but in the last 10 minutes we felt we had enough, chances to win it.

“The Roscommon game was a step backwards - the performance and the result were disappointing and we need to correct that going forward.

“We showed in glimpses that we can still play a bit of football but that isn’t enough to give us a chance of winning going into the last 10 minutes of a game and basically, Roscommon were near-enough out the gate by half-time.”

Down have talented footballers capable of competing when they have the ball in their hands but getting it to them has been the problem and a total of 2-31 over four games illustrates that scores have been hard to come by this year. Long before McCartan took over the reins, Down were struggling to win their own kick-outs and opponents now routinely set-up to press their restarts and starve them of possession.

“In patches we have played some decent football,” said McCartan.

“When Barry O’Hagan has been fit he has been going well, Andrew Gilmore (1-10 so far) has been a positive, we’ve seen flashes from Caolan Mooney with more to come and Liam Kerr has definitely been a very bright spark in games when he’s been fit and there’s a lot more to come from him.

“There are new players there and we’re trying to gel them in with experienced players. Attacking-wise, even though the scoreboard mightn’t reflect it, we still felt we were a big attacking threat against Meath.”

Two packed houses at Pairc Esler for the home games against Offaly and Clare would certainly help Down’s cause but McCartan concedes that his team gave their fans little to shout about last time out.

“It would be great to have a full stand behind us but we have to give the fans something to support,” he said.

“Against Roscommon, I didn’t think we gave them any reason to get behind the team because we were poor throughout and didn’t even get a 10-15 minute period to get them behind us.

“Hopefully we can try and rectify that this weekend and give them something to shout about and be an extra man for us.”