BY RYAN FERRY

DONEGAL manager Jim McGuinness says the challenge in front of his team is huge as they aim to land the Sam Maguire Cup for only the third time in the county’s history.

It has been a mammoth campaign to get through to this stage.

No team has ever had to play 11 matches to win an All-Ireland before but that’s what Donegal are on the brink of.

The fact that it is Kerry that are the opposition o shouldn’t come as a huge shock to anyone.

If you take the last four Championships, Kerry won one of them and were beaten by the eventual winners in the other three.

The Kingdom were always likely to veer into the picture at some stage for McGuinness.

Kerry know all about the business end of the season and are expected to be in contention every year.

That’s not necessarily the case with Donegal but there has been a growing momentum over the last two years.

A team and a county believe they can land the ultimate prize once again but they will have to beat a quality team to do that.

“It’s the next game ahead of us,” said McGuinness.

“We have played a lot of games this year. We played a lot of games in Division 1 and then we played a lot of games in the championship so we know what we’re going in against.

“It’s Kerry’s third appearance in a final in four years. They know their way about Croke Park extremely well.

“They know their way around Croke Park on All-Ireland Final Day maybe better than anyone else, with maybe the exception of Dublin in the last decade or so.

“But they were probably contesting most of those finals anyway.

“The challenge is huge, and I think that’s the biggest barrier you have to overcome when you’re a team around the periphery if you like.

“We would say that we ourselves are in that bracket, Tyrone and Armagh are in that bracket. They are good teams but trying to make a breakthrough.

“We wake up on the first of January and you’re thinking things will go well and you’ll get momentum and you can build a team and build an energy.

“Kerry and Dublin wake up on the first of January and if they don’t win the All-Ireland they will be disappointed.

“That mindset is going to be difficult for our lads to overcome because that’s what they are going to be facing as soon as the ball is thrown in.

“They are going to be facing fellas that have been there done that and know how to do that and have the knowledge and tradition to back that up.

“That’s the first challenge we will meet and some of that will be played out before the ball is even thrown in.”

The match has been billed as a clash of contrasting styles.

Kerry like to move the ball quickly through the foot to their inside forwards, while Donegal rarely kick and like to carry the possession.

However, McGuinness feels there are plenty of similarities between the teams.

“Everyone is trying to play the same way. They’re trying to play fast and move the ball fast and they are trying to support the ball fast.

“We do it differently to Kerry.

“Kerry look to do that through the hand and then through the foot and with dink balls and longer balls inside.

“And I think they are the best team in the country for third-man runs.

“I spent two years down there myself and was part of many training sessions from a Kerry point of view.

“I used to laugh sometimes because when I was starting out with Tralee, we had a lot of players that had won the All-Ireland in 1997 the year that I arrived.

“A lot of the drills that we were doing from a handling point of view with a fist-pass, it was the exact same drill but it was over 40 metres by 50 metres and it was a kick-pass drill and a dink ball.

“We talk about our DNA being a running game, third man runs off a kick-pass is probably Kerry’s DNA.

“They love to kick the ball and get a support runner coming off that (pass), who can carry the fight.

“I have good experience of how they want to play because I was part of that process myself.

“I was also part of the process that they bring to games and finals.

“I was lucky enough to win two Sigersons down there and there was never any doubt that we were going to win them.

“You’re going into those games and you’re fully believing you’re going to do it.

“So yeah, it was good to be down there as a student and be part of some brilliant teams and experience that.”

The fact that Donegal come into their 18th match of the season in such rude health is remarkable.

Technology is a big help these days and each players’ metrics are closely analysed and different men will be pulled out of sessions if required to manage their load.

Donegal came close to mastering the right formula last year but Conor O’Donnell just couldn’t quite shake off bad luck and a troublesome hamstring.

Eoghan ‘Ban’ Gallagher, Shaun Patton and Caolan McGonagle have been the most pressing concerns this year but as long as everyone comes through this week’s training ok, Donegal should have a full hand to select from.

The Strength & Conditioning and medical teams deserve a lot of credit for that as do the players and their conscientiousness.

“We have sacrificed a lot to make that happen.

“There’s a lot of evenings there where you are taking the precautionary side of the road rather than pushing people on.

“Every time that we were in that position throughout the national league as well, we tried to manage people and manage minutes and manage injuries, and not sort of veer towards the risk side of the road.

“We were working towards a view where we would have as many people available as possible. We’re in that position now so we’re delighted with that.”

There are selection headaches for McGuinness as this game approaches.

He has arguably one of the strongest panels that any Donegal team has ever had to work with.

Much has been made about the rise of Finnbarr Roarty and the return of Odhran McFadden-Ferry, Eoghan McGettigan, Eoin McHugh, and particularly Michael Murphy.

There’s huge depth there and tough calls will have to be made.

Team captain Patrick McBrearty and one of the stars of the league, Daire Ó Baoill have been held in reserve.

Mark Curran was the first sub on in the opening championship game against Derry but has found himself out the matchday 26.

Aaron Doherty started last year’s All-Ireland Semi-Final but didn’t make the squad for the Meath game this time around.

All those players are pushing all the time to better their cause as is Murphy, who didn’t require a huge amount of persuasion to do a u-turn on his two-year retirement.

“I don’t think it’s fair for me to be talking about personal stuff with Michael.

“When he did come back, I knew he wasn’t there unless he believed in his heart that he could really, really contribute. He’s not that type of fella.

“We’re delighted to have him back and the other players that have come in as well have massively helped the depth in the squad which was lacking last year.

“We left Croke Park and were very disappointed that we didn’t make it to the All-Ireland Final but we also ran out of steam in the last quarter and we thought we didn’t have the depth we thought we had.

“We wanted to bring players in that we felt could genuinely push others for game time and that has been the case.

“The flip side of that is other fellas who have done very well for us have been squeezed from the team or the subs or the squad.

“That’s what every manager wants.

“It’s a very, very tough situation when you’re telling fellas that they are not in a squad particularly fellas that have been in most of your squads.

“Caolan (McGonagle) came in the last day and one or two players missed out and that’s very, very hard when you see what they are putting in with effort levels.

“But at the same time, that’s what you want. You’d take that all day long because it strengthens your hand going into the game.”

Check out our latest podcast as Rory Grugan and Gerard O’Kane look ahead to Sunday’s All-Ireland final.