Shelbourne centre-back Kevin Doherty this morning declared himself fit for Saturday’s showdown with Longford Town, allaying concerns that the summer signing from Liverpool might be set for another long injury lay-off.
Doherty hurt his arm in Monday night’s League Cup defeat by Shamrock Rovers and appeared to be in intense pain as he left the pitch in the first half.
Having seen his Liverpool career hampered by a broken leg and having missed several matches for Shelbourne earlier this season due to a hand injury, the 21 year old admitted he was nervous that bad luck was about to intervene again, just as he had finally established himself at Tolka Park.
"Given my bad history with injuries, the first thought that went through my mind when I felt the pain was "oh no, here we go again" he said.
"But thankfully I quickly realised it wasn’t too bad - the nerve is damaged and it’s still very sore, but I was able to do some training yesterday and I'll definitely be ready for the weekened."
That news means that manager Dermot Keely will have a wealth of defenisve options at his disposal, since Peter Hutton is also due to return from suspension.