Antrim’s prospects of causing an upset against Kilkenny in the third round of the Leinster SHC on Sunday have been dealt a blow with the news that Nigel Elliott is set for a spell on the sidelines with a broken metatarsal.
The Dunloy attacker sustained the injury in the first half of the drawn first round game against Dublin at Corrigan Park and missed last weekend’s defeat to Wexford.
With Kilkenny coming to West Belfast this weekend, Elliott’s injury comes at the worst possible time for the player himself and manager Darren Gleeson.
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“I’m going to be out the next while anyway - it is a stress fracture of my metatarsal. It happened in the first half of the Dublin game." recalled Elliott.
"Nobody was near me, but I felt something pop and I could hardly put any weight on it at all.
“It is too hard to put a time-frame on it. I’ve been told six weeks, but it depends on how quickly it heals. I’d like to get back for the Westmeath game and play in the Championship, but I can’t put a time on it.”
Elliott’s absence further blunts Antrim’s attack at a time when they need to be firing on all cylinders.
Niall McKenna is also currently sidelined with a hamstring injury while former captain Conor McCann is still a few weeks away from rejoining the match-day panel as he continues to recover from a cruciate injury.
Ciaran Clarke picked up a cruciate injury last season as well and is unlikely to feature for the Saffrons in 2023.
“It is the way the fixtures are, the matches are week-after-week,” said Elliott.
“After Kilkenny this weekend, we’ve a week off and then we are away to Galway and Westmeath.
“In another year, you might have missed two or three games - this year you could miss the whole Championship campaign.
“You want to be playing the likes of Kilkenny at home in Corrigan - who wouldn’t want to be playing Kilkenny at home in the Championship? Games like that don’t come around too often.
“It would be nice to be playing, but hopefully the boys can put in a good performance.”
Unless Kerry win the Joe McDonagh Cup, the team who finishes bottom of the Leinster SHC group will be relegated.
As things stand, Antrim’s final group game against Westmeath could double-up as a relegation play-off.
However, Elliott insists Antrim’s fate is still in their own hands and says they are determined to secure their Liam MacCarthy Cup status before their trip to Mullingar at the end of the month.
“Our performances are there - the Dublin game was one that got away,” added the Dunloy clubman.
“We had a started off slowly against Wexford and were beat by four points.
“Even in the League game against Kilkenny, there was an opportunity to take their scalp.
“We need to get the points on the board. I think it is just a matter of time. . . if we can get the performance right. It would be great to take points off Kilkenny.
“We don’t want to go into the last game needing a result. It has happened us too often in the past.
“Between now and then we want to get a few more points on the board and then get a result in Westmeath too.”
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