Tommy Freeman is struggling to be fit for Monaghan's Ulster SFC semi-final against Down on Sunday week after suffering a recurrence of a hamstring injury in training.

The injury restricted the former All Star attacker to a second half substitute appearance in the quarter-final against Antrim when he helped the Farneymen turned a three-point deficit into a three-point victory in the final quarter. But there are now fresh doubts about his availability for the Down game.

"He's had hamstring trouble all season and it's flared up on him again at training," Monaghan manager Eamonn McEneaney explained to The Irish News.

"It's clearly an acute injury because it's recurred. It was a gamble the last day, but he got through it."

McEneaney is more confident about Darren Hughes and Paul Finlay being fit to face the Mourne County. Hughes missed the Antrim game due to calcification in his thigh, which means that part of the muscle there has turned to bone, while star forward Finlay was forced to retire with a shoulder injury after only 20 minutes.

"Darren is coming on, it's just a bit slow. We'd be hopeful he'll make it on time, but he hasn't had much training or matches," he continued.

"Paul is still injured. Basically, it's a race against time to get him fit. As far as we know it was a partial dislocation. It's all about how well it settles down. We'd be hopeful that he will recover, he has come on a good bit, but we won't really know until next week." Tweet

Most Read Stories