Motivated Cork ace Goulding ‘can’t wait’ to return to action

CORK star Daniel Goulding “can’t wait” to return to intercounty action in the New Year after his 2011 season was cut short by an ankle injury sustained in the All-Ireland qualifiers against Down.

The Éire Óg star hobbled off after 20 minutes of the July tie and played no part in the Rebels’ defeat to Mayo a week later in the last eight.

Goulding has undergone an extensive treatment programme with Cork physiotherapist Colin Lane and the Sports Surgery Clinic in Santry and believes he’s on course for an end of January return.

“It’s not too bad,” he said. “I went for a scan last week again but it’s niggling a small bit so we’ll see how it goes. I’m still able to work away and get fit so it’s not so bad. I’ve played a couple of games for the club and there’s been no huge issue with it. I’ll be back 100% hopefully by the end of January.”

With the players on individual gym programmes under the tutelage of former Munster strength and conditioning coach Aidan O’Connell, 2012 can’t come quick enough for Goulding.

“Yeah I can’t wait to get back into it,” he said. “Last year didn’t end great for any of us. I’d a couple of months off to think about it so the motivation is there and I can’t wait to get back into it.”