By Michael McMullan

DERRY’S Eoin McEvoy is back running again but manager Ciarán Meenagh says he won’t be rushing the Rossa defender back into action.

McEvoy has been managing knee tendinopathy in recent years but the Derry medical team have insisted on getting the issue solved once and for all.

He missed the Ulster University’s Sigerson Cup campaign and hasn’t featured since Magherafelt’s run to last season’s Derry decider.

“He’s back now on his feet and he’s back running, so there’s a process there of building his fitness now,” Meenagh told Gaelic Life ahead of the Oakleafers’ showdown with Kildare.

“You have to be careful with a player coming back from long-term injury and throwing them in at the deep end, because you’re leaving them vulnerable to a repeat injury.

“You’re also leaving them vulnerable to other soft tissue injuries. We have to do the right thing to build his load progressively now but he’s getting close.

“We’re really confident, with a really strong medical team, that we should now be getting to the bottom of an issue that has plagued him over the last three years.”

McEvoy was an All-Ireland Minor winner under current senior selector Martin Boyle in 2021.

He is joined on the current senior panel by Patrick McGurk, Dan Higgins, Matthew Downey, Mark Doherty, Niall O’Donnell, Lachlan Murray and Charlie Diamond from that day in Tullamore.

Higgins, Queen’s captain, is currently on the injured list with a knee injury sustained in Sigerson Cup action against UCC.

Dan’s brother Conall, is one of four u-20 players on the senior panel, alongside Eamon Young, Tommy Rogers and James Sargent.

The u-20s will be released back to their own age group ahead of their competition, as Derry bid for a first title at the grade since 2018.

Sargent won’t feature in Damian McErlain’s u-20 plans and is currently on the road back from an ACL injury picked up against Cavan last season.

“He’s coming back and he’s only just turned 19,” Meenagh said of the 2024 All-Ireland minor winning captain.

“He had ACL surgery in July. Typically, for any athlete, you’re talking about a nine-month process.

“It’s somebody younger so you have to be especially aware of their age and everything else to make sure that we get it right,” he said, adopting the same cautious approach as he has for McEvoy.

“He’s at seven and a half months and he has done phenomenal work. He has been getting the best of good care and he’s very attentive.

“In terms of how he has been able to develop, he’s under Peter (Scullion) in the medical aspect.

“He has made unbelievable progress but we’re not going to be rushing him or taking risks at 19 years of age.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s trip to Newbridge to face an unbeaten Kildare, Meenagh is also factoring in a hectic two-week spell that will also see Offaly and Cork visit Find Insurance Celtic Park.

“We’re going into a game with a team that’s above us on the table, that have the momentum of winning a Tailteann cup last year,” Meenagh said of Kildare.

“They have the momentum of a manager (Brian Flanagan) who has taken them to two All-Ireland under-20 finals.

“Significantly they’re one of the only county teams in Ireland that have actually two former inter-county managers (Aidan O’Rourke and Davy Burke) as part of their backroom team, so they have chemistry with their management team.”