UCD must plan without five for Sporting visit

UCD entertain Sporting Fingal in tonight’s Airtricity League Premier Division clash at the UCD Bowl, kick-off 7.45pm.

Greg Bolger is ruled out for UCD as he is serving a suspension.

And boss Martin Russell must plan without Paul Corry, Stephen Roche, David McMillan and Sean Harding as they are all carrying injuries.

Russell said: “We have to approach each of our remaining games in a positive manner. Sporting will play good football so it should be an entertaining match.”

Shane McFaul returns from injury for Fingal to face his former club. The midfielder was an absentee from last week’s 1-0 win over Dundalk but has recovered from his groin strain.

Striker Eamon Zayed comes back into contention having sat out that game with flu.

Lorcan Fitzgerald, who also missed the fixture due to a hamstring problem, will undergo a pre-match fitness test to ascertain his availability.

And Colin Hawkins is back in training following his broken ribs five weeks ago but won’t be risked.

Fingal boss Liam Buckley said: “With eleven games to go, we’re still battling to move up the table and, as we saw with last weekend’s results, no games are straightforward in this Division.

“The Belfield pitch is always in good nick and we need to continue with the type of form we’ve shown recently. It’s another big week ahead with three games in seven days but this one against UCD is all we’re concentrating on.”