James McClean told by hip specialist he has ‘no business being on a football pitch’

James McClean will see a specialist on Friday before deciding whether to continue playing football.

McClean revealed a hip specialist told him 10 days ago that he “has no business being on a football pitch due to the severity of the damage.”

“I respect his honesty and his expert opinion, but I have never been one to lay down without a fight,” McClean wrote on Instagram.

“Tomorrow’s appointment is a last chance for me to hopefully get a surgery – if it’s even a possibility – one which will allow me to do what I have dreamt of doing, and that’s being able to contribute while in an acceptable physical state to do so. That is playing for a club I love in Derry City.

“I felt it was important for me to share this because it could be a while – if ever even – until l have the opportunity to do so again.”

The former Republic of Ireland international, who won 103 caps, left Derry for Sunderland in 2011 only to return to his hometown club in January after helping Wrexham gain double promotion from League Two to the English Championship.

Derry manager Tiernan Lynch surprisingly used the 37-year-old winger as a central midfielder for the Candystripes’ opening eight matches, when they only won twice and lost three to leave them 11 points behind Shamrock Rovers in the Premier Division.

“To be honest, this is a difficult post for me to write for a number of reasons – mainly due to the uncertainty of the outcome – but I feel it’s best to put it in black and white,” McClean continued.

“For the past few years, I have been playing through difficulties with my hip and though I have managed and played through the pain, the impact of training and playing on astro has sped up the damage much faster than I ever anticipated.

“The past six weeks have been hell – pain is something I have been able to get on with and play with throughout my career, but it is the restriction and not being able to move which is what I am struggling with physically obviously, but also mentally.

“Never mind trying to compete on the football pitch,” he added, “but just everyday life, playing with my wains (children), putting on socks, walking.”

There is further bad news for Derry in advance of hosting Rovers at Celtic Park (kick-off 8pm, live on Virgin Media Two,) as Michael Duffy is also injured.

Hoops manager Stephen Bradley has raised concerns about the condition of the GAA pitch as Derry are moving 300 metres up the Lone Moor Road for their next five home matches as a €1.6 million relaying of the Brandywell surface continues. The much-maligned AstroTurf is being replaced with a hybrid pitch of 95 per cent grass.

“Ronan Finn (Rovers’ director of football) travelled up to see [Celtic Park]. He sent us some videos back and it looks poor, and reports from people from up there were saying the same,” Bradley said on Thursday. “So we’ll wait and see, but the players saw the videos and are well aware of what we’re facing.”

A crowd of around 7,000 is expected at the 12,500-capacity venue.

Speaking about the Celtic Park pitch earlier this week, Derry City’s commercial director Robert Martin told RTÉ: “[The pitch] is coming on really well, despite the fact that there’s been a lot of training on it. There was a championship game on Saturday night. But apart from that, look, the weather is on our side this week, so it’s going to be in good condition.”

Rovers trio Matt Healy, Danny Mandroiu and Rory Gaffney are also absent as the defending champions seek to put daylight between themselves and the chasing pack.

“You get a bit of a kick from starting afresh,” said Jake Mulraney of his winter switch to Rovers from St Patrick’s Athletic. “I think there’s a lot more demand in standards here, it keeps you on your toes. I think that’s really good for me in the sense of there’s a lot more of a demand defensively too.”

Mulraney’s comments were put to St Pat’s manager Stephen Kenny in advance of the Dublin derby against Bohemians at Richmond Park.

“We’ve modified how we work but I wouldn’t say that [better standards were needed],” said Kenny. “Our wing players didn’t hit the heights last season for whatever reason. But they were often latched on to by wing backs in five-man defences and crowded out.”

St Pat’s changed to three centre-halves after Kenny spent the preseason watching how his former Ireland assistant coach John Eustace operates at Derby and how Keith Andrews coaches Brentford.

“It has given us adaptability against teams without radically altering our structure out of possession from game to game. It’s given us a fluidity to our play.”

St Pat’s are second in the table, two points behind Rovers, while Bohemians are another three points adrift in fourth.

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