McShane won’t rush return for Red Hands
ALL-IRELAND winner Cathal McShane insists he will not be rushed back to start for Tyrone until he is ‘ready’. McShane made his first appearance of the season when coming from the bench late in last weekend’s Allianz League defeat to Kerry — and marked his introduction by setting up Ciarán Daly for a consolation goal.
His appearance has raised expectations that the Strabane man could be parachuted into the starting team for Saturday week’s crunch relegation clash with fellow Ulster strugglers Monaghan. But, speaking after the defeat to the Kingdom, McShane insisted he will only do so if he is physically ready. ‘You need everyone fit and fighting hard. I know that myself, getting back out and getting minutes, and there will be a few others hopefully trying to do that in the next couple of weeks,’ he said. ‘You need a fit squad and you need to get everyone right, but you need to be right when you’re out there as well.
The 2018 Championship top scorer and All-Star winner has reason to be cautious about rushing back having endured three consecutive seasons sabotaged by injury. Last weekend’s appearance was his first since coming off the bench in last June’s All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Kerry, while he has not started a game since lining out against Mayo over 12 months ago. But he now has eyes fixed on Monaghan when a victory is almost certain to secure their Division 1 status. ‘We have two games left and when we play at Healy Park we always want to win. ‘Next week, we will be looking to get back on track,’ he vowed.