It’s no walk in the park as Declan Coulter faces fitness race

A calf injury has left Donegal hurling star Declan Coulter in a battle to be fit for his side’s Division 2B relegation play-off.

Coulter sat out yesterday afternoon’s defeat to Wicklow in Letterkenny after aggravating the injury on Friday while walking in the park with his young daughter.

Coulter had scored nine points against Derry two weeks ago having posted seven in the opening day game against Kildare.

However, three defeats now leave Mickey McCann’s side in a battle for survival, with a play-off against Warwickshire next month to determine their fate.

“Declan is a big loss – he’s one of the top forwards in the division,” Donegal manager McCann said.

“Declan hurt his calf when he was out in the park with his daughter on Friday. His calf popped on him. It looks like a four or five-week injury.

“He pulled out on Tuesday night with a bit of stiffness too. He’s a big loss. Hopefully we can have him for the play-off game if we can get him in half decent shape.”

Lee Henderson grabbed ten points for Donegal, but they lost out 2-13 to 0-15 at O’Donnell Park.

McCann says Coulter’s return is the only possible addition.

He said: “What we have there now that’s it. We have a very young panel and a lot of boys new to the scene. They bring new speed to training.”