Fitness worries for Wexford as Ryan ponders his options

WEXFORD football boss Jason Ryan is facing a number of injury worries ahead of the crunch clash with Dublin on Sunday week.

In addition to doubts about the fitness of ace forward Matty Forde for the Leinster semi-final at Croke Park, defender Ciaran Kennedy and forward Paddy Byrne have been ruled out through a knee injury and a broken cheek bone, respectively.

And the training of defenders David Walsh and Noel Murphy, midfielder Brendan Doyle, and forwards Redmond Barry and Ben Brosnan has been restricted because of groin and hamstring-related injuries. “Paddy Byrne broke a bone in his knee-cap, and will have to have an operation,” explained Ryan, who steered Wexford to an All-Ireland semi-final clash against Tyrone in his first year at the helm.

“And there is no way that Ciaran Kennedy’s cheek-bone will have healed in time to allow him to play against Dublin,” he said.

“We’re hopeful that David Walsh, Noel Murphy, Brendan Doyle, Redmond Barry and Ben Brosnan will get the all-clear to play on Sunday week, but we won’t have a clearer picture on their situation until early next week.”

Matty Forde, who has been troubled by a back injury, said two weeks ago that, because he’s well behind his team-mates in terms of physical fitness and match sharpness, he gave himself very little chance of lining out against the Dubs.

But Jason Ryan retains a glimmer of hope that the talismanic corner-forward might be able to play some part against the defending provincial champions.

“Matty’s gradually making progress, and he’s come through a number of practice matches that we’ve had among ourselves,” said Ryan.

“If he continues to show improvement over the next week or so, he might come into consideration for the Dublin match.”