McGuinness downplays McHugh injury

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness fully expects Ryan McHugh to be fit for next Sunday’s Ulster SFC semi-final against Down.

There were fears that the Kilcar clubman had sustained a serious leg injury after colliding with Monaghan goalkeeper Rory Beggan and going off injured in the first half of last Sunday’s quarter-final win over Monaghan, but McGuinness clarified afterwards that he had suffered a nasty gash which required stitches.

“It's basically a gash in his shin that was very deep,” he explained to reporters in Clones.

“So they had to stitch it up at half-time and then tape it up. It wasn't restricting him in terms of running but he's going to be a very sore boy tomorrow morning. . . War wounds!”

McGuinness wasn’t as optimistic about Caolan McGonagle and Mark Curran’s chances of playing against the Mournemen.

“He (McGonagle) nipped his calf against Derry. So it'll be three weeks next week so we'll see how that goes during the week. Mark Curran is in a boot. He again hurt his ankle against Derry. He has a ligament issue there and he's going to be longer, unfortunately,” he added.