By Michael McMullan

DERRY manager Ciarán Meenagh is hopeful that goalkeeper Odhrán Lynch will be back ahead of their Ulster Championship showdown with Antrim.

The Rossa ‘keeper is recovering from a hip injury but Meenagh says Eoin McEvoy is making “unbelievably good progress” from a long-term and lingering knee injury.

“Eoin has a bit of knee tendinopathy, he’s working hard and he’s making unbelievably good progress,” Meenagh said after Wednesday night’s Dr McKenna Cup win over Antrim at Owenbeg.

“He’s in a good place mentally, he’s chomping at the bit, but we want to manage this to get this right,” Meenagh added, explaining it was an injury the defender has been carrying since his last involvement with Derry.

“Eoin McEvoy is dealing with this since I was here last in 2023 and this has gone on into a continual cycle of patching up, training once a week, maybe playing, and then never getting the best of anything.

“These players, I’ve told them that I’m going to do the right thing by them in terms of getting them right, for not just the short term.

“We’ve been short sighted and that may cost a wee bit in the short term but I want to get everything right here in terms of what things are for the longer term.”

Derry were 2-16 to 0-7 winners over Antrim with goals from Paul Cassidy and debutant Ruairí Ó Mianáin.

Sean Kearney and Conor McAteer also marked their debuts with scores as they held Antrim scoreless in the second half after leading 0-9 to 0-7 at the break.

It was a victory that came with a dampening ending with Conor McCluskey helped off after picking up an injury after a collision with Antrim goalkeeper John McNabb while in the process of scoring a late point.

While McCluskey had to be helped off, early signs are that it’s not a major injury.

“I’ll have to get in and see but it seemed to be a bad enough tackle as he was going through on goal,” Meenagh said. “I was thinking to myself when he got the ball, ‘go round him, go round the ‘keeper’. He took the shot on and the keeper led with his foot so it looks like a bit of a foot or ankle injury but I don’t think it’s too bad.

While Ruairí Ó Mianáin made an impact on his debut, Sleacht Néill duo Shane McGuigan and Brendan Rogers were not part of the Derry squad, both getting a break after an arduous spell of both club and county action.

“Look, they need a physical break, but they need an emotional break as well,” Meenagh said.