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Keenan will be back for Fermanagh clash but Rath is ruled out
LOUTH midfielder Paddy Keenan has insisted that he will be back in the squad to face Fermanagh this Sunday.
The St Patrick's midfielder has not featured since Louth's defeat to Sligo, when he hobbled off in the 32nd minute with an injury in his left hamstring.
But after a painful month on the sidelines, Keenan told the Dundalk Democrat on Sunday that he will be ready for trip to Enniskillen.
Keenan was provisionally named in the squad for the Cavan game, but a twinge in his hamstring at training on Thursday night ruled him out.
He said: "I thought I would be close enough to getting in the squad. I trained Tuesday night and it felt okay but then Thursday night it wasn't so good so just as a precaution I stayed away this week. Hopefully I will get back next Sunday, all going well."
A promotion push is back on for the Wee County, but they cannot afford to get carried away, something Keenan knows all too well.
"Right now, we are looking to win against Fermanagh. It's a very tough division that we are in, any team can beat anybody on a given day so we have to follow up on that win against Cavan with a win next week and that will set us up nicely but Fermanagh is not an easy team to play against so we will have to get focused straight away at the next training session."
Right now, Keenan could actually struggle to get back in the side as Cooley Kickhams duo Brian White and Sean O'Neill were colossal in midfield on Sunday.
"Brian White certainly did brilliant there for us in midfield and Sean O'Neill did very well also. It won't be easy to get back into the team, especially in midfield, maybe they will put me in the square or something like that, I do not know", quipped Kennan.
"It will be tough to get back in but I am just looking to get the fitness back and stay injury free."
One man who is ruled out for the rest of the league campaign is Padraig Rath, who fractured his ankle during the Cavan game.
The Dreadnots player was told on Monday that he had a small break in one of the bones in his left ankle, which will leave him in a cast for six weeks.
The injury occurred as Rath contested a 50-50 ball with Michael Lyng.
"Two of us went for it and he got it. I went to stop his run but my leg twisted and I heard a crack straight-away."
It looked as though Rath had been punched in the head as he went down clutching his face, but the full-back revealed that he held his head in his hands to avoid looking at the damage.
"It could have been a lot worse, but at the time I did not want to look down and see the injury as I was in agony."
Rath is looking at a lengthly lay-off, which could also rule him out of the Championship game against Longford.
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Weather for Dundalk
Thursday 17 May 2012
Today
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