*Mark McInerney takes on Niall Hughes. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
CLARE have “lots to play for” against Sligo despite being out of the race for promotion, manager Paul Madden has insisted.
For the first time since their relegation from Division 2 in 2023, Clare are not in the hunt for promotion out of Division 3 entering the final round of fixtures in the Allianz National Football League.
Successive defeats to Down and Wexford in round one and two followed by a sixth round 1-22 2-17 loss to Wexford has Clare out of the promotion equation for round seven.
Sunday’s game in Markievicz Park (14:00) carries significance for the hosts Sligo who will be relegated if they lose and Limerick defeat Fermanagh. The Yeats County overcame Clare last March 1-19 2-14, a result which helped secure their status in Division 3.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s trip to Sligo, Clare manager Paul Madden stressed that the fixture is important for players looking to make an impression for championship. “I would argue that we’ve lots to play for in Sligo in the sense that anyone who wants to go and play for Clare football has to go to Sligo and want to play for Clare regardless of what way the table is. We have a Munster semi-final against Kerry here in four weeks time, we’ve an awful lot to play for in Sligo, regardless of the table”.
Vice captain Dermot Coughlan is back in the side, he’s named at centre forward. Captain Cillian Rouine likely would have been included in the first fifteen had it been a must-win tie, Darragh Bohannon and Caoilfhionn O’Dea continue to recovery from hamstring injuries. “Losing Dermot was a big blow to us but I was happy that the lads coming in had been working hard and showing something at training, Cillian Rouine is making great progress as is Darragh and Caoilfhionn O’Dea but with the level of injury they had you can’t play unless you’re fit”.
Clare held their last training on Friday evening in Caherlohan.
