Liam Doyle is easing his way back into life as a Down footballer.

The Liatroim clubman, who captained the Mourne County to the 1999 All-Ireland minor title, has spent most of the last three years on the sideline due to a succession of nasty injuries but starred in his customary centre back position against Armagh on Sunday.

The 31-year-old left-footer also saw action in last summer's qualifiers against Clare, Leitrim and Antrim and the signs are encouraging that he is returning to his best form. He says in the Irish News today:

"It is a bonus to get a game during the first weekend of January; I haven't had that in maybe four years.

"Last year, those couple of championship games were a bonus for me. The way it worked out, a couple of our key players got injured and I got a couple of games. But it takes a wee bit of time.

"I got back into the swing of things with the club. I got a few games but I was still getting a few setbacks.

"I wouldn't say that I am out of the woods yet, but it was just good to get another game under the belt, especially this early in the season." Tweet

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