DOWN footballer Niall Donnelly will have surgery to reattach ruptured ligaments in his ankle on Friday.
The Tullylish clubman hopes to return to the inter-county scene next season after the injury restricted his involvement to just one appearance for the Mournemen in 2019. His sole outing came against Laois in the opening round of Division Three fixtures on January 27.
He was used as a full-back against Laois but hobbled off Pairc Esler after 47 minutes and hasn’t been able to feature since.
Donnelly, a teacher at St Patrick’s College in Banbridge, began his inter-county career as a midfielder but was better known as a centre half-back for his club. He made his Championship debut in the Ulster quarter-final win over Armagh at Pairc Esler in 2017 and was joint top scorer, with 1-1, in the Mournemen’s Ulster semi-final loss to Donegal last year.
There was speculation that Paddy Tally would use him at full-back this season but injury has put paid to that development until next year.
