JEROME Johnston is unlikely to be parachuted back into Down’s Ulster Championship plans despite returning home after a period of travelling.
The Kilcoo attacker, who was a key player in Down’s run to last summer’s provincial decider, has been back playing club football – but a call-up to the Mournemen could still be some distance away.
Speaking at last night’s Ulster Championship launch at the Strabane branch of O’Neill’s sportswear, manager Eamonn Burns said: “Jerome is focusing on the club at the minute. I’ve watched him a couple of times and he’s played really well for Kilcoo.
“It’s important that he’s playing weekly with the club because he’s been out of football for quite a long time and we’ll keep an eye on him. I’ve been speaking to him over the last couple of weeks so we’ll be keeping in touch.”
Down face a “banana skin” Championship opener against Lenny Harbinson’s Antrim side in Newry on Saturday May 26.
Antrim native Gearoid Adams was recruited to the Down ranks at the beginning of the season after stepping away from his joint manager post with the Saffrons at the end of 2017.
There’s little Adams won’t know about Down’s visitors to Newry in a few weeks’ time, but Burns was quick to add: “Yes, we’ve got Gearoid but he won’t be playing. He will give us a bit of information and a bit of insight here and there. It’s probably a difficult thing for him to do.
“We know what Antrim are about. But it’s about how we play on the 26th of May.
“It’s a banana skin game. If Antrim can come down and put in a really good performance they will realise they have a great chance of winning the game. But it’s up to us to have ourselves properly prepared and be ready from the word go.”
Down were relegated to Division Three this season while Antrim narrowly missed out on promotion out of Division Four.
