Forde won’t face Dublin

WEXFORD football boss Jason Ryan looks set to have to plan without ace forward Matty Forde for the Leinster Championship clash with Dublin, on June 13.

Forde, who missed last year’s championship because of a serious back injury, gave the Slaneysiders a major boost when he returned to training last month.

But the talismanic attacker feels that the showdown against the Dubs has come a little too early for him to figure in the selection frame for the Croke Park tie.

“I came back training after the end of the league but it’s about a year and a half since I’ve done any serious training. So I’d be a long way behind the rest of the lads in terms of fitness and football sharpness.

“The match against Dublin is less than four weeks away, and so I don’t feel that I will have enough training under my belt to play a part in it.”

Understandably, Forde feels that the task facing Jason Ryan’s troops is of a very intimidating nature.

“It’s the toughest draw we could have got. When we played them in the 2008 Leinster final, they beat us by a cricket score. They were unlucky not to be in the Division 1 final. But like Dublin in Division 1, we were very unlucky not to make the Division 3 final.”