Cavan boss Mickey Graham is likely to have a full deck to shuffle as he plots to outwit Malachy O’Rourke .. but he's keeping his fingers crossed.
Graham reports no injuries ahead of the visit of Monaghan to Kingspan Breffni for next Saturday’s Ulster SFC first round clash.
A succession of Cavan senior footballers have bemoaned their luck come championship time over the years but the Cavan Gaels clubman freely admits that 'Lady Fortune' has so far been kind to him as he winds down his squad’s preparations.
“It’s what every manager looks for; to be given a chance to be able to field his best players from the start and to have fully-fit lads on the bench ready to come on when needed so, yeh, I can’t have any complaints on that front,'' he said.
But, with the noise of hundreds of giddy juveniles eager to avail of photographs with their heroes ringing in the background at Cavan GAA’s annual Open Day at Kingspan Breffni, Graham is keeping his fingers crossed that this week will see his troops stay out of the sick bay.
“We’ve had a few fellas come back from injury in the last few weeks, after hurting themselves in club games but fellas like Gearóid (McKiernan) are back flying and so hopefully with no games for them at the weekend, we’ll have a clean bill of health in the days leading into the Monaghan game.
“We’ll see how those handful of lads who’re not long back from putting aside niggly injuries get on in training in the next few days and call it then in terms of how we think their fitness levels are.
“Picking fellas who are able to stay the distance for at least 70 minutes is crucial in modern-day football.”
