*Clare midfielder, Brian McNamara.
CLARE’S footballers are in must-win territory if they are to keep their season alive.
All has not gone according to plan for Clare in 2026, particularly when it comes to their home fixtures but they have a chance to go about rectifying that with the visit of Longford to Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg on Saturday (17:00).
Emmet McMahon is expected to be named among the substitutes for the first time this season. The Kildysart man has been out of action with an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained last July.
His colleague in attack and on the staff of St Caimin’s Community School in Shannon, Dermot Coughlan remains an injury doubt for the weekend with a groin injury.
Captain Cillian Rouine will return to the side at centre back. The Ennistymon clubman missed out on Clare’s poor showing against Offaly with a bad bout of a flu virus. However, he has recovered and has been back in action in training and will lead his county into battle this weekend.
Ruled out for the weekend are Eoin Cleary, Darragh Bohannon and Stephen Ryan while Seán McAllister is coming closer to the reckoning but an injury to his AC joint in his shoulder is likely to keep him out of the matchday twenty six.
Do or die territory needs to be embraced by Clare’s footballers, manager Paul Madden stressed. “It is knockout now, maybe that is what we need to be under that bit more pressure”.
It will be the first knockout meeting between Clare and Longford since 2015 when a fourteen man Longford managed by Jack Sheedy dumped Colm Collins’ men out of the championship with a 2-12 1-12 win in Ennis. Cleary is the only member of the Clare side which featured eleven years ago still involved with the county seniors.
Not that Clare underestimated Longford eleven years ago but they certainly cannot afford to do the same this weekend. Producing an improved performance will be the primary focus from the Banner camp while supporters will hope a less defensive approach is adapted for Clare to try kick on in the Tailteann Cup.
