Fernandes targets March return to action for Treaty United

DESPITE suffering a knee injury that will rule him out of the opening games of the new SSE Airtricity First Division season, Denzil Fernandes is confident he will show Treaty United fans what he is all about when he gets on the pitch.

The Drimoleague man has signed for the Limerick club for the upcoming campaign after his two-and-a-half year spell with Shelbourne came to an end.

Approaching this season as a fresh start Fernandes is eager to show what he can do – but first he needs to recover from a knee injury picked up last week.

‘The good news is that it’s only a partial tear so I won’t be out for too long,’ Fernandes told The Star Sport Podcast, and he is targeting Treaty United’s home game against his former club Cork City on March 18th as a possible first match in his new club colours.

‘I feel like I have the potential to play at the top and hopefully this season justifies that when I get back on the pitch,’ he says.

‘I want to be bigger, better and stronger because I don’t think the past two and a half seasons have shown what I can do. When I was with Cobh it only felt like it was going to get better and better because I was playing matches every week, but when I went to Shels I was in and out. I feel like I can show this season that I have the potential to get better and better.’

Fernandes (23) has had no luck with injuries in recent times and points to last season with Shels as an example. The club won the First Division title and promotion, but he could only watch on, frustrated on the sidelines.

‘Obviously Shels are a top-class club, the fans have been unbelievable and I have seen tweets from the fans saying they hadn’t seen enough of me. I think I only played 19 or 20 times in two and a half seasons. Winning those two titles was great but I would have liked to have played more,’ he says.

‘I started last season off with a really bad concussion and it took me time to recover from it. When I got back to training I was doing really well but then I got a shoulder injury that put me out for another two or three months. Then I got a knee injury, so it didn't work out for me at all. It was hard mentally and physically.’

Fernandes’ hope now is to recover from his latest injury setback and get back on the pitch to show fans what he is capable of.