Dante Leverock admits it was a “scary thing” that a clash of heads left him out cold until he was en route to the Mater Hospital in an ambulance last Friday night.
But now he’s getting his head around leaving the League behind for Bermuda this weekend to prepare for his country’s first ever CONCACAF Gold Cup appearance.
Leverock will miss tonight’s encounter with Dundalk as he takes time off to recover from the concussion that left him floored at Dalymount Park.
“I don’t remember much about it,” he said. “But I did watch the video back.
“That ball was in the air and I think I was going to head it back but I collided with our goalkeeper Ed McGinty.
“I only came to on the way to the hospital. It’s the first time it has happened to me and it was a scary thing.
“The physios here have been looking after me and the medical team at the ground helped me a lot. I’m very grateful.”
The 27-year-old didn’t spend the night in the Mater, choosing instead to be monitored by his room-mates back in his Sligo home.
And afterwards, Romeo Parkes told Leverock that he dedicated his match-winner against Bohs to him.
Leverock was told to take a full seven to 10 days off before resuming training.
He’ll do so in Bermuda, where the national team begin their preparations for the big event with a friendly against Guyana, before flying on to Costa Rica and then to the US for the Gold Cup.
Bermuda face Haiti at the Estadio Nacional in San Jose on June 16, then Costa Rica in Frisco, Texas four days later before taking on Nicaragua in New Jersey on June 24.
The experienced defender will only miss a fortnight for Sligo as the tournament coincides with the League of Ireland’s summer break.
“I just want to get back playing now,” the Bermuda captain said. “I’ll head back with all the information that Bermuda need to monitor me.
“We’re buzzing for it, we’re the smallest nation involved but we have players from England,
Europe and the US.
“We’ll enjoy the experience and if any team underestimates us we’ll be ready. It will be tough to leave Sligo as well because, after a tough start, we are seven games unbeaten and starting to look up instead of down.
“It’s probably not the best time for me to leave but the Sligo management knew that once we qualified I’d be away for it.
“We have very capable players and will continue to do well. We’re starting to gain points and beat the big teams.
“I’ll be watching closely for the results and will be back before the Finn Harps game.”
Leverock claims that the League is the most competitive that he’s played in so far and says that he’s grown as a player to the extent that he’d be happy to stay beyond the season’s end.
“More than happy,” he stressed. “We’ll see what happens.”
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