DOWN are sweating on the fitness of skipper Kevin McKernan and midfielder Niall Donnelly as they look ahead to their Ulster semi-final with either Cavan or Monaghan on June 23.
In the aftermath of their two-point win over Armagh on Sunday there are fears that McKernan had damaged ligaments in his right shoulder after he landed awkwardly following a challenge from Niall Rowland.
The Burren clubman had his shoulder heavily strapped as he left the pitch while Tullylish centrefielder Donnelly was stretchered off with a knee injury 52 minutes into the Pairc Esler clash.
Donnelly recovered sufficiently to enjoy the post-match celebrations on crutches and at that stage he was optimistic that his injury wouldn’t keep him out of the semi-final.
“Hopefully it’s not too bad,” he said.
“I don’t think so anyway. I can put a bit of weight on it.”
But speaking yesterday, Down manager Eamonn Burns said Donnelly’s injury could “be a wee bit nastier” than first suspected.
“We haven’t had any word on either of them yet,” said Burns, an All-Ireland winner with Down in 1991 and 1994.
“I’m awaiting word and we’ll just have to wait and see. I’m optimistic, but I don’t know. Having watched the game back on TV, Niall Donnelly’s injury could be a wee bit nastier than we thought.
“Going into a semi-final, whoever you get you’re going to need a full deck of players to play with and you’d like everyone available, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Down won the game with an effective mix of free-flowing attacking football in the first half and backs-to-the-wall counter-attacking style in the second.
Cavan and Monaghan both played in the Division One of the National Football League so, despite their derby win, Down could well find themselves underdogs at the Athletic Grounds.
“There’s always improvements you can make and there are plenty of things we can work on, both offensively and defensively,” said Burns.
“We’ve only got a couple of weeks to iron a few things out so we’ll have to sit down with the players and go through things because we’re definitely going to have to improve to win the semi-final.”
Expectations were low in the latter stages of Down’s League campaign, but the fighting draw in Cork that saved them from relegation coupled with Sunday’s win over their bitter rivals will have raised hopes of a long-awaited resurgence in the Mournes. Down fans will make their way to Armagh in large numbers to cheer on the county as they look to end a 23-year wait for an Ulster title.
“Expectations will rise after that victory on Sunday,” said Burns.
“But it’ll be a tough task at The Athletic Grounds no matter who it is. If we are going to make any progress we’re going to have to improve a lot.
“Going to the Athletic Grounds is a shorter journey for everyone so I’d imagine they’ll all be happy with that. We didn’t have any input into the choice of venue so wherever it is, it is and we’ll see how it goes.”
