Cluxton behind my injury, jokes Walshe

He is able to make a joke of it now, and Colin Walshe was full of smiles yesterday as he "blamed" Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton for his cruciate knee injury last August.

The Monaghan All Star defender suffered the injury during the team’s All-Ireland SFC quarter-final defeat to Dublin and is targeting his comeback in the Ulster championship clash with Cavan on May 24.

Speaking at the launch of the Allianz Leagues in Belfast yesterday, Walshe quipped: “If you look back, it was probably the worst ‘45’ I have ever seen Stephen Cluxton hit so I will probably blame him!”

“Usually he just strokes them over, but I think it landed about the ‘13’, that’s why I was going up for the ball, but whatever way I twisted when I landed, I did the damage.

“So I put it down to him as much as anything!

“But seriously, I might have had a weakness in my knee going into the game from the Kildare (qualifier) game. I don’t know if that had a big impact on it. I think it was just one of those things. My foot stuck in the ground and it twisted.

“Before that I don’t think I had missed a game in two years under Malachy (O’Rourke).”

Walshe is understandably disappointed to be missing out on Monaghan’s big return to Division One. It’s an even tougher environment than when he last tasted top-flight football with the county in 2010 and 2011, after which they were relegated.

“We are exactly where we want to be,” he claimed.

“We targeted promotion in the last two years to make it up there.

“I can’t imagine there are too many teams in division one that will be looking forward to playing us so you have to take that on its merits too.”