Trio back to boost Galway chances

Galway manager Peter Ford has been heartened by the return to training of three key players ahead of his side's crucial NFL Division 1B tie against Kildare on Sunday.

Key defender Kieran Fitzgerald and the talismanic Meehan brothers, Declan and Michael, have all returned to the panel after time out to grieve for Mairead Meehan, the brothers' sister and Fitzgerald's girlfriend, who passed away recently after a long illness.

Ford is expected to name his team tonight for the showdown with an unbeaten Kildare side, who claimed the scalps of Armagh and Derry last month.

The Tribesmen, who are third-from-bottom in the table after posting their first win last time out against Armagh, have doubts surrounding the fitness of attackers Matthew Clancy (leg), Derek Savage (groin) and Sean Armstrong (hamstring).

However, the vastly-experienced Padraig Joyce did kick half of Galway's points in their comeback win over Armagh in Salthill, and he is likely to be centre stage again at Pearse Stadium this weekend.