Sligo marksman Niall Murphy likely to feature in Leitrim clash despite injury fear 

Niall Murphy of Sligo pictured with the Tailteann Cup at the launch of the Tailteann Cup. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Sligo have been boosted by the news that captain Niall Murphy should feature for them in the Tailteann Cup this weekend after all.

The experienced forward was taken off just 23 minutes into last weekend's Round 1 win over Tipperary.

There were fears initially of a serious hamstring injury which could have ruled him out for the rest of the campaign.

But speaking at the announcement that Championship sponsors Allianz have extended their deal by three years, Sligo team-mate Pat Spillane gave a positive update on Murphy's situation.

Sligo beat Tipperary in Round 1 last weekend and will travel to play Leitrim this Sunday.

"He's not too bad thankfully," said Spillane, a goal scorer against Tipp. "We have training tonight so I'll catch up with him at that but it's not as bad as we once thought. Niall is a class act so it would be great to have him injury free.

"It was a worry at the time. It was a tough game, we had plenty of obstacles thrown our way. Niall went off injured very early. We had two black cards and were down to 13 men for a spell so we didn't make life easy on ourselves.

"He seemed to be pretty confident when we were leaving that he should be playing this weekend. It was referred pain from his back I think. I'm not sure exactly what it was but he was scared at first that it was a hamstring injury. I think it might have been a back issue that was causing him bother but thankfully not as bad as first thought."

Sligo supporters were concerned about having to play the Tipp game at the Tubbercurry club grounds. 

Their Markievicz Park base is out of operation until next summer due to necessary upgrade works on the pitch which had been cutting up badly in recent months.

"We'll be there for all our league games next year," said Spillane of Tubbercurry, which hosted almost 2,000. "It was class, I loved it. Unfortunately Markievicz Park was closed but there was such a buzz around the place. Colm McGee, our selector, is from the area. He was saying that the community, the whole club, the excitement of having Sligo play there, in south Sligo, it was all just massive for them.

"And the noise as well, of having a full smaller club ground, versus maybe if we didn't fill out Markievicz Park, that was great as well. It's not ideal but it was really enjoyable to play there and I'd be looking forward to playing there in the league next year as well."