MONAGHAN have been dealt a huge blow ahead of the Championship after midfielder Darren Hughes was ruled out for three months with a knee injury.
The Scotstown man suffered a torn medial ligament following an accidental collision during a club game against Clontibret on Saturday, and a visit to the sports surgery clinic in Santry yesterday confirmed the extent of the injury.
Hughes is likely to miss most if not all of Monaghan’s provincial campaign – which begins with a preliminary round clash against Fermanagh on May 20 - and could yet require surgery should the injury fail to respond in the next four weeks.
If that is the case, he would play no part this summer.
Despite his obvious disappointment, Hughes admitted he travelled to Dublin yesterday “fearing the worst” and feeling that anything other than being ruled out for the year “would be a bonus”.
“It’s not the cruciate so I suppose that’s kind of a bonus, but it’s too early to set dates or targets” said the 30-year-old, a key cog in the Farney wheel for the past decade.
“It’s a right bit away but it is what it is, I just have to get on with it. At the minute I don’t need surgery - they were afraid of a full rupture but they don’t think it is so
I’ve just to look after it and hopefully it’ll heal well.
“I’ve been told to do nothing for the next two to three weeks – it all depends how it settles. If it doesn’t do anything in the next four [weeks] it could be an operation.
“I’ll have to see how the initial healing process goes and take it from there, but it’ll be well on in the year before I see anything.”
“I know what I have to do,” continued Hughes. “It’s disappointing but it could’ve been a darn site worse.
“There’s always something – if it wasn’t me it’d be someone else. There’s no point in moaning, you just have to get on with it.”
