POWERFUL forward Domhnall Nugent is aiming to play some part in Antrim’s Leinster Championship tilt as he battles back from an ankle injury.
The St John’s clubman went under the surgeon’s knife in October to repair torn ligaments and ruptured cartilage in his ankle, and initially hoped to return around the midway part of the Saffrons’ National League campaign.
That now appears unlikely, however – and Nugent’s prolonged absence will come as a blow to Antrim boss Darren Gleeson, who is already without forwards Ciaran Clarke and Conor McCann for the League as a result of major injuries sustained in club action.
“It’s disappointing, but what can you do? You just have to get on with it,” said the 26-year-old.
“At the start I actually thought it was going to be a bit worse, that I would miss Championship and everything, so in that way I was relieved when I spoke to the consultant after the surgery.”
Antrim - who have their first game of the year against Dublin in the Walsh Cup on Saturday - are going into a third consecutive season in Division 1B, with Kilkenny coming to Corrigan Park on the opening day.
The Leinster Championship, meanwhile, begins on the weekend of April 22/23, with the first of the Saffrons’ five round-robin games against Dublin at the west Belfast venue.
And, when he does eventually return to the fold, Nugent is determined to make his presence felt.
“The day he had our very first meeting with Darren, he said ‘we want to be the best prepared Antrim team ever’, and that’s still our goal. This year, I need to the best prepared I’ve ever been – that’s what I want.
“I don’t want to be that guy who was a fringe player, who could’ve been better. I want to make an impact. I have ambitions and dreams, I still go to bed at night and think about what I want to achieve – now it’s up to me to put that into practice.
“I feel like I owe that to myself.”
