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Race against time for injured Louth stars
A number of Louth players face a race against time to prove match their match fitness for Sunday's NFL Division Three clash with Roscommon.
Following Sunday's win over Fermanagh, the squad trained on Monday night, but there was a number of noticeable absentees from the panel.
Paddy Keenan, Ray Finnegan and Sean O'Neill, who all came off injured in Brewster Park did not train, whilst Ronan Carroll and Colm Judge, who were not available for the Fermanagh clash also sat out the session.
It leaves Peter Fitzpatrick with more headaches as he looks to name the strongest team he possibly can on Sunday as Louth look to continue their promotion push with a win over struggling Roscommon.
But with another session scheduled for St Patrick's Day, Fitzpatrick is allowing the injured players all the time they need to prove that they are ready.
He said: "To be honest, they are all serious injuries, but it will be their call and I will give them every chance as I want to be able to put my best team out on the day."
Keenan played for 29 minutes on Sunday, but suffered a set-back with his persistent hamstring injury. O'Neill also came off with a hamstring problem and Finnegan further aggravated an ankle injury he sustained in a challenge match with Dublin.
However, although the trio all hobbled off in the first half, Fitzpatrick thinks the decision was well worth it.
"I did not take a gamble at all. I honestly thought Paddy was okay, the same with Ray Finnegan and Sean O'Neill. I could have pushed them to play last week, but I thought another week would do them no harm. They trained during the week, they looked fine, but the demands of football, maybe 35 minutes was too much for them, but we do need the three lads back."
Ronan Carroll and Colm Judge did not feature in Brewster Park. Carroll is struggling with a back injury and Judge is sidelined with a shoulder problem, but something that has pleased Fitzpatrick is the strength in depth he has as Derek Crilly stepped into midfield and Liam Shevlin filled a hole at half-back.
Now, whatever 15 he puts out against Roscommon, Fitzpatrick is looking to push on and seal a promotion place.
"We have another three games coming up, one at home, two away. If we win our next three matches, we get promotion to Division Two and that is our goal for the next three games."
gary@dundalkdemocrat.ie
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Weather for Dundalk
Thursday 17 May 2012
Today
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