DERRY GAA have suffered a major blow as wing-back Padraig McGrogan has been ruled out for the rest of the season.
McGrogan sustained a cruciate ligament injury in training on April 25 just days after Derry’s Ulster quarter-final clash against Donegal.
The wing-back was taken off during the first-half of the defeat.
McGrogan is set to undergo surgery early next month and will likely not return to action until next year’s league campaign.
He told The Irish Mirror: “Just training three weeks ago today, something I have done a million times before. I went to turn inside and it gave in on me.
“I suppose bad timing. Last year was an impact injury with my ankle. Other than that I have been fairly lucky so far.
“I have never missed games with a niggly injury, it has been dead on. My ankle cleared up quickly, it was just bad timing.
“I’m still in with the group most training days. I don’t know really how much I will miss out. I am still there. Gameday will be a different story, a different feeling for me but I am still part of the group.
“It is a different journey from the boys after the operation goes ahead. It is what it is. You can’t get too down about it.”
McGrogan was insistent that the condensed season did not play any role in the injury amid ongoing debates in the GAA world.
He added: “You adapt training to games, if you weren’t going to training you would be pushing the boundaries elsewhere.
“In training as opposed to game days, if you weren’t playing county you would be playing with the club anyway. I don’t really draw any link to it at all. I suppose some people might say different.”
The Newbridge man will still be heavily involved with the Derry team as they begin their All-Ireland group series against Galway on Saturday week.
McGrogan continued: “I plan to be there most of the time. Especially the last few weeks I have been lying around the house, I wasn’t working.
“It is great to get out of the house in evenings or the weekend. I look forward to it still. It’s not something I want to go away from.
“I’m used to being around training every week. So far so good sticking to that. It will get to the stage where I am going to training to do my rehab. I’d say I will still be there a good bit.”