KEVIN McKERNAN is confident he will have recovered from an ankle injury in time for Down’s Ulster Championship quarter-final against Monaghan on June 5.
The Burren clubman damaged ligaments when he landed awkwardly during a Division One game against Ballymartin recently, but he is determined to be fully fit for the Clones clash against the defending Ulster champions.
“I would hope to be back for the Championship,” St Mary’s student McKernan confirmed.
“It’s early days yet. It happened last Monday night and I’ve been in a ‘moon boot’ since, but there’s seven weeks to the Championship. You don’t know how long these things take but, with ankle ligament damage, it’s usually four-to-six weeks. I would err on the side of four-or-five weeks and hopefully get in a couple of weeks’ training before the Championship.”
The news that 2010 All-Ireland finalist McKernan is likely to be fit to face Monaghan is a timely boost for a Down camp keen to make a fresh start after being battered by negativity since the beginning of the year.
Results haven’t gone well - Down were relegated from Division One without winning a game. There have been retirements and injuries to cope with too, but all that will be quickly forgotten if Down can cause an upset on June 5.
“I’ll be back running as early as I can and I’ll keep the body ticking over,” said McKernan.
“I’ve had plenty of football from January right through with St Mary’s and with Down as well. I’ve had lots of football and the rest might do me the world of good. I’m probably going to miss the guts of four or five games with the club and there’s always the possibility of picking up another injury, so it’s probably best case scenario that it’s four-to-six weeks.
“It gets you a breather and, hopefully, I’ll be well rested for the Championship.”
