But both Conor Gethins and Aaron Labonte will not take their places in the squad as Hegarty attempts to get a team together for the vitally important relegation clash against the Dublin students.

Gethins’ hamstring injury, sustained during last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of Derry City, may not be torn although the club are still waiting for official confirmation.

And it’s a similar case with Aaron Labonte. The former Dunfermline defender was forced to pull out shortly before kick-off in the Derry game with what was thought to be a serious cartilage injury but despite not training, hopes are now high the injury is not as bad as first feared.

“We’ll not know for definite on either of them but you can say they’re definitely not going to be playing against UCD,” confirmed Hegarty last night. “But after fearing the worst, there’s a chance they might not be too bad.”

Hegarty has struggled all year with a succession of injuries and suspensions and, unfortunately for him, this week is no different with three more players ruled out of action.

His problems don’t stop there. Marc Brolly, who has been involved in a succession of games of late, will certainly not play as he is undergoing a one-match suspension.

Boyle back?

The other main question mark hangs over the head of Declan Boyle, who trained at the start of the week but might not be rushed back. He hasn’t played since the 2-0 win at Shamrock Rovers but with his hamstring injury clearing up, it’s possible he could return.

“We’re not certain about Declan at the minute but we plan to have a look at him nearer to the kick-off. He’s been training but, like the others, we’ll just have to see how things are.

“We’ve had problems with injuries all season but I still think that we have a squad that is strong enough to compete. I’ve been thinking about how we’ll shape ourselves against UCD and I’ve a fair enough idea in my own head about how we’ll approach it,” added Hegarty.

Last Friday night in the Brandywell, Hegarty opted for a 4-5-1 formation initially, before throwing caution to the wind the longer the game went on, particularly after Mark Farren scored what proved to be the game’s only goal.

Harps have met UCD twice already this term with both sides enjoying 1-0 wins in the respective home encounters.

“Looking back at those games, we know that it’s going to be very tough against UCD,” suggested Hegarty. “At home I thought we did fine. We worked hard, were well organised and I don’t think we were ever really under pressure in that game.

“In the return, we were sloppy and I think that we let ourselves down. But it’s tough at the bottom and UCD are in a very similar position to us so we’ll be taking nothing for granted. We’ll be looking to get a result and so will they, but these are the sort of games that will have a big impact come the end of the season.”

UCD have selection worries of their own, interestingly over two men with Finn Harps connections.