General
- Wednesday July 1st, 2009 @ 12:42
SAINTS STRIKER QUIGLEY ON ROAD TO RECOVERY
Having sustained a broken jaw in a collision with Drogheda goalkeeper Paul Skinner, Mark Quigley underwent a recent operation at St James' Hospital to reset the jaw which involved the insertion of four screws and two metal plates.
“At least the pain and the swelling have started to die down”, said the Saint striker, “I'm going in to see the specialist again today but I would be hopeful of being back in action within 4 to 5 weeks all things going well”.
“I have been ordered to take a week's total rest, I can then start to work on my fitness again but without any physical contact training for a further week or so but when I do return I should be pretty fit” said Quigley.
He added “I would especially like to thank the doctors and nurses at the hospital for their excellent care and attention and also the medical team up in Drogheda who looked after me on the night”.
It has been a difficult season so far for Quigley who hardly missed a game in 2008 when he was the league's top scorer, “I've had some ongoing injuries since the start of the season from back problems to problems with shin splints and I've struggled to be 100% fit for most games which has been really frustrating”.
Adding to Mark's frustration is the likelihood that he will miss out on the start of the Saints campaign in the Europa league “with the run we had last year you definitely get a taste for European matches so it's disappointing to be on the sidelines however I wouldn't rule out a return for the 2nd leg on 23rd of July but we'll have to see how the recovery goes”.
Quigley's absence will give Saints manger Jeff Kenna additional selection problems, “since the start of the season the manger hasn't had a chance to put out his strongest 11 but within the next few weeks with players like Gary Dempsey and young Mark Leech coming back in to the team, this may be changing you'd like to see Jeff soon being presented with a very different kind of selection problem”.
St Pat's next home game is against Dublin rivals Shamrock Rovers in the League of Ireland on Saturday July 4th at Richmond Park with an 8.00pm kick-off.
